Maid for a month
by Milkshakecat200
Summary: Hinata has to be Sasuke's Maid...
1. The Dinner request

**AN: Okay so this is my first story ever and it's not mine originally full credit goes to the original author FaintFalconHunter called His for a month if you want to read the first part of the story, and then continued by babyspice939 but I haven't been able to get in contact with either of them to ask permission to continue the story since neither has updated in such a long time. This is a continuation so I'm starting off from chapter 7 of FaintFalconHunter so as not to take any of babyspice939 ideas. This is chapter 8 and I will be changing some details of the story- like NejiTen is not happening for the rest of the story, Kiba and Shino will be introduced as Hinata's friends too and Neji lives with Hinata in this adaption. Okay hope you like it.**

**I do not own Naruto or any Naruto characters.**

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The Dinner Request

After Naruto left Hinata had stayed in the library reading the book of poems Kakashi had assigned them. The poems were mostly about lost love and grief on life. It left Hinata feeling depressed and listless. The effect lasted her the rest of the day, her head was so full of sad thoughts she hardly noticed her surroundings and what she was doing. It was so bad that she made a few mistakes at work getting two orders mixed up and having to restock the inventory twice when she got it wrong the first time.

She felt so gloomy and distracted that she didn't even notice when Naruto, Sakura, Shikamaru and Sasuke came into the Craven Haven again. Maybe it's because she didn't take their orders when they sat down or because 2 minutes after their arrival she was sent home early by her boss for her slip ups. She walked right by their table without looking at them lost in her thoughts. Once she was outside she bolted …. she ran all the way home.

"Get a grip"... Hinata told herself hoping the sudden burst of adrenaline would get her out of her funk ...getting this depressed over some poems was too pathetic... even for her. Sasuke watched her go from the corner of his eye until she was out of sight.

At home Hinata was preparing dinner while Hanabi chattered in her ear about her school, her friends and the latest updates on those cell phone novels she had recently become obsessed with, taking advantage of Hinata's early presence home.

Hinata wasn't really paying too much attention to Hanabi, not that she was annoyed with her but she needed to concentrate on cooking the food. She had never ruined a meal before and the idea of her father and Neji coming home to a burnt dinner after a long day of work and training was incomprehensible to her. She tuned into Hanabi every now and then to comment making it seem like she was giving her full attention when the doorbell rang.

"Could you answer that Hanabi?" she asked

"Kay" running off to the door.

"Oh h-hey" Hinata said after seeing that it was Tenten. She was still a little nervous that Tenten might still be upset with her.

"Hey" she said hugging her from behind and plopping herself on the counter to watch Hinata cook.

What are you doing here? Not that I'm not happy to see to you" inclining her head towards Hanabi who went to the living room after answering the door and was now watching TV. It was 6:30 not exactly early but Tenten knew she had work today and would usually just call her later at night.

"I stopped by the restaurant and they told me they let you go early" she said. "They said you seemed distracted so I got a little worried... and curious" she finished with a sly grin on her face.

"C-Curious about what?" Hinata asked blushing slightly even though she already knew what was on Tentens mind.

"Oh come on! You know what I mean, I heard you got partnered with Naruto for an assignment" she exclaimed about to burst. "How'd it go?" "It must have been good if you got sent home for being ...hem clearing her throat _distracted_ ."

"It wasn't anything l-like t-that" Hinata said blushing deeper.

"Whatever... just tell me about it" Tenten said.

"Well …...it was really cute watching him struggle to understand the poems we had to read" she smiled thinking about it.

"Uh huh"

"He has such a sweet smile" blushing even more " But he had to leave right away so we didn't get much done" she finished.

"Man and here I rushed over thinking you two had gotten all hot and heavy in the library" Tenten sighed disappointed.

"W-Wha, I would nev-"but she was cut short..

"Who are you two talking about?" Hanabi had walked in.

"N-No one!" Hinata said a little too loud turning crimson and finishing up with dinner.

"Naruto?" Hanabi asked Tenten.

"Naruto" Tenten said flatly.

Hinata was just about to ask Hanabi if she had any homework to do when the phone rang.

Tenten still on the counter, was the closest picked it up "Hyuga residence" she said politely. Looking a little surprised she handed the phone over to Hinata. "It's Sasuke."

"Sasuke?" her heart sinking a little.

Hinata took the phone feeling like death himself was calling. "Hello" she answered.

"I need you to come over"

"Now?"

"Yes now"

"B-But isn't it kinda late?" she ask weakly.

"No" he answered without emotion... "don't forget that you're my property this month Hyuga, its stated in the contract you have to do whatever I want..whenever I want, that's what I paid for".

"B-But I don't think I should, I-I mean I'm a little busy right now" her voice trailing off

"You have 20 minutes to get here or it'll be worse for you later" he said she could hear the impatience in his voice.

**Click** ….**dial tone**

Hinata stared wide eyed at the phone in disbelief

What's the matter?" Tenten asked concerned

"He...He's asking me to come over right now" she said

"Really? Man he likes to crack the whip doesn't he?" Tenten said

"Who?" Hanabi asked

"Sasuke" Tenten said a little annoyed

"Oh! The one who bought you at that maid auction right?

Hinata nodded her eyes still staring at the phone.

"What should I do? Father and Neji will be home soon and if I'm not here they'll be furious" thinking about it sent a shiver down her spine.

"Don't worry Neji knows that your Sasukes maid this month so he'll understand and we'll cover for you with your dad" Tenten said trying to sound chipper but feeling a little guilty. It was kinda her fault that Hinata was in a bind right now but if she had known that Sasuke was going to buy her and then run her ragged Tenten would have never put her up to it.

Hinata was weighing the options in her mind and finally decided that although her father was stern and scary when angry he couldn't make the rest of her high school experience hell like Sasuke could. When she thought of Neji Hinata knew that Tenten was right. Just like Hanabi, Neji knew that she was Sasuke's maid but had promised not to say anything out of affection for her and his friendship with Tenten. She was a little disappointed that he didn't play his usual role of overprotective brother and forbid her from participating when she mentioned the His for a month auction but grateful that he agreed not to tell her father.

Setting the stove to a low simmer Hinata covered the pan of Koro Koro Steak and grabbed a timer, still if Neji ever found out what Sasuke made her do- thinking of her maid outfit, he wouldn't think twice about breaking every bone in Sasukes body. She knew what Neji was capable of and didn't want him to get in a fight over her and possibly end up in jail or expelled from school. He was the perfect student, a real genius with high prospects and she couldn't let him ruin that. Setting the timer Hinata turned to face Hanbi.

When the timer goes off the foods done" she said "I need you to set the table and the food for father and Nii-san before they get home".

"Ok" Hanabi nodded understanding the situation.

"If Nii-san comes home first tell him the truth of where I am and that we're telling father I'm with Tenten working on a school project at her house." If father comes home first tell him about Tenten and as soon as you get Nii-san alone tell him the truth." she finished apprehensively.

"Right" Hanabi said looking determined. She felt like she was on a mission for her big sister and didn't want to fail her, after all this was the first time Hinata had done anything sneaky and it was about time in Hanabi's opinion.

For only 10 years old Hanabi was already a little firecracker.

"Thank you" Hinata said giving her sister a hug.

"I'll go home in case Neji calls before Hanabi has the chance to tell him and let him in on the plan" Tenten said jumping off the counter.

Hinata nodded and she and Tenten left the kitchen and made their way to the front door while they heard Hanabi set to work on the table.

"You'll be fine right? It's not like Sasuke makes you do anything unreasonable it's just some cleaning and homework right? Tenten asked seeing Hinata's grim expression.

Hinata bit her lip still no sure if she should tell Tenten the truth but she had this unknown fear of Sasuke that held her tongue.

"Y-Yeah" she gave a nervous laugh "You just know how my father is if I'm late".

Tenten nodded knowing too well.

After saying goodbye to Tenten at the end of her block Hinata ran all the way to Sasukes. She got there faster than last time since she knew the way now. She was out of breath when she reached his door, she rang the doorbell and only had to wait a minute before the door opened and Sasuke stood in front of her.

He gave her a once over "Your 4 minutes late" he said calmly looking at her with a bored expression.

Breathing hard she said... S-Sorry... Sasuke...I...came..._.._as fast...as I could. "apologetically.

"Just come in" he sighed moving to the side so she could enter.

Hinata let herself in and expected Sasuke to lead her to his room but he went down the hall to his right instead. Not knowing what else to do she followed him lagging a little behind. She looked around anticipating his mom to pop out but she didn't so she guessed that Sasuke was the only one home.

"Um...where's your mom?" Hinata asked hoping she wasn't prying

"Out" Sasuke said without looking back at her "That's why your here."

Silence fell on them as they kept walking

Hinata gulped down her fear and fought back her tears. Alone with Sasuke in his house without his mother seemed really scary to her all of a sudden. Maybe him keeping his distance while she worked in that slutty maid outfit was out of respect to her but now she was gone! Who knows what he'll do Hinata thought fearfully.

He lead her into the kitchen. It was huge, much bigger than the one in her home and with a lot more equipment Hinata noted taking everything in. He finally turned to face her and after he thought she had looked long enough said "You're going to make me dinner" he said his onyx eyes looking straight into her lavender ones.

He made her come over just to make him dinner! _He could have ordered out!_ she thought to herself.

"O-Okay" blushing her eyes on the floor not being able to hold his gaze. "What do you want to eat?" looking up again.

"hn..." he paused and then decided "I don't really want anything in particular so it doesn't matter, just use what's here and make something" he said with the same bored expression.

Hinata stared at him in disbelief

Amused by her face the corner of his mouth twitched a little "don't keep me waiting long" he said holding up a paper bag he grabbed from the floor. Looking at it Hinata realized it was her maid outfit.

She groaned "Um, d-do I really have to wear that to cook?" she asked her eyes on the floor again as her face turned red.

"Get started" was all he said as he handed her the bag and walked out.

Once she changed she was alone in the kitchen glad that Sasuke decided not to stick around. She put on an apron that was on the counter which covered the front of her body but pushed down the small fluff of her skirt making her movements a little awkward but still felt better knowing that she was covered.

Hinata found the food pantry and looked around. The Uchiha's were stocked well, it was a good thing that cooking was both her hobby and role as the elder female Hyuga or she would have been overwhelmed with all the supplies in front of her. Giving his vague orders Hinata decided to cook something simple that she could make in a short amount of time and get home as fast as possible. She decided on omusubi with okaka. She grabbed the ingredients she needed and started to work. She put her hair in a side bun and took her gloves off knowing they would get in the way.

As much as Hinata wanted to finish quickly her enjoyment of cooking made her take it slow. She knew that good food was prepared and cooked with patience. And since she wasn't a master chef she took her time. Even if she was being forced she would never allow herself to cook a bad meal.

Hinata was making the last omusubi into a triangle when she felt his presence. She slowly looked over her shoulder and saw Sasuke leaning against the door way watching her. She didn't know how long he had been there she had been too preoccupied with the food to notice him. She looked away blushing while she heard his footsteps move towards her and soon felt his body heat as he hugged her from behind wrapping his arms around her waist, his hot breath running down her neck and shoulders. As soon as he touched her Hinata stopped breathing, she held her breath while she silently pleaded to let her go. Sasuke sensing her tension only wrapped his arms tighter.

"Breathe" he commanded in a soft whisper. But she couldn't let go, she held on to her breath unable to move.

"Breathe" he whispered again but more forcefully. Still Hinata couldn't, her brain was fighting her bodies demand for oxygen- she held on wishing she could run away.

"If you don't..." Sasuke tipped her head up slightly with his thumb "You'll pass out again" he said nibbling on her ear sending a sensation throughout her body making her face and chest hot as her heart pounded not with fear but excitement.

That was her breaking point.

Hinata let out her breath as she gasped for air. Sasuke eyes moved from her heaving chest to her face and back again. "hmm ..."

He let go stepping to the right of her, Hinata recovering from the lack of air took a step away from him nervously putting one closed hand to her chest the other near her thigh clutching her apron.

"The plates are in the cabinet behind you, the dining room is through that door to your left" Sasuke said pointing to the other side of the kitchen. "You'll be serving me in there" he said a little smirk forming from the corner of his mouth as Hinata looked close to tears.

She nodded to show that she understood.

Sasuke was already sitting in the dining room 5 minutes later when she came in. Hinata had made enough for two people not knowing how hungry Sasuke was, setting his plate in front of him she realized something that made her nervous.

" S-Sasuke?"

"What?"

"D-Did you want dessert?" Hinata asked

"No, I don't like sweet things" he stated firmly

"Really?" giggling before she could stop herself

"What's so funny?" he asked scowling at her

"N-Nothing I'm j-just surprised"

"Oh yeah why's that?" clenching his teeth and shifting from his seat so that his whole body faced her

"I-It's just I-I think sweets are the best thing in the world" she said fidgeting with her fingers

Sasuke continued to scowl at her so she headed back in the kitchen to clean up, tripping over herself as she did. Sasuke sighed thinking about how clumsy she was.

Back in the kitchen Hinata was washing the dishes when she thought about Sasuke eating alone. Hinata always ate with her family for almost every meal, _I wonder if he's lonely eating without his mom_ she thought.

What should she do? Was she obligated to sit with him while he ate? Hinata had never had a maid before but she didn't really think they were supposed to eat with their masters.

Wait! what was she thinking? Sasuke wasn't her master!

She was just fulfilling her duty to Tenten and to the school, that's it! She reminded herself. Besides she was sure Sasuke preferred to be left alone when eating. He certainly seemed annoyed by her and by most of the people around him, even his best friends.

Plus she was scared of making him angry. Sasuke was so shrouded in mystery Hinata thought drying off the last dish, a mystery she didn't want to intrude on.

But thinking of him alone in there bothered her...she couldn't just ignore it. Simple kindness was what she believed in and while being around Sasuke made her nervous he hadn't really done anything terrible... or at least too terrible for her not to try and be nice to him.

Drying her hands she sighed... Neji was right about her biggest weakness she thought. She **was** too kind and gentle but what could she do? It was just her nature.

She turned around and folded the apron she had on placing it on top of the counter and walked towards the dining room hoping she wouldn't regret it later.

End of chapter 8.

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**So that was it for this chapter I hope you get to read it and that FaintFalconHunter and babyspice939 are okay with this...**

**Reviews are very welcomed good and bad it'll help me develop the story better.**

**Thanks!**


	2. Tsubaki

I do not own Naruto or any Naruto Characters

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Tsubaki

Hinata enters the dining room to see that Sasuke was halfway done eating. He didn't look at her when she came in so she isn't sure what to do. Deciding to just take the plunge she clears her throat.

"Um S-Sasuke?" He turns his head to look at her with a bored expression on his face again.

"Do-Do you want me to sit with you?" Hinata asked

"What?" his face betraying his calm composure as he looked at her suspiciously

"Do you want me to stay with you while you eat" rephrasing her request so he would give her something else to do instead.

"Why"?

"Eh"... Hinata tilted her head to the side a little unsure of what he was asking her

"Why do you want to sit with me?" He asked

Hinata didn't really know how to answer that; she figured he would just tell her yes or no. Truthfully she didn't want to sit with him she just thought she should be nice and try to get along with him.

"Well... to keep you company... I-I guess" she shrugged looking at her feet.

To keep me company? He asked flatly

Hinata nodded still not looking up.

Sasuke looked away not saying anything.

**Silence...**

.

.

.

.

.

**Awkward Silence...**

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.

.

.

Hinata was about to turn around and just wait in the kitchen when he spoke.

"Fine you can stay"

A little surprised and disappointed at the same time Hinata sat down to his left. She wanted to say she felt defeated but _she did ask for this_ she thought to herself. He was still eating although she couldn't really tell if he was enjoying the food or not. Hinata racked her brain trying to think of something to say.

"Sooo... Um where's your mom?" she asked breaking the silence with the only thing she could think about.

"Out" he stated bluntly with the intonation of 'drop it' in his voice

Hinata felt the sting of his words and got the hint so she decided to try something else

"Um how's your assignment for Kakashi Sensai going? What kind of book do you guys have? Did you and Sakura decide on a poem?"

"Tsk I don't know what kind of poem we're doing it on, I just let her pick" he said not really interested

"Oh" was all she could say as she tried to think of something to say that wouldn't make her seem like an idiot.

"What about you? It must be a headache having to work with that dimwit"

Hinata frowned ..._geez is that what he thinks of his best __friend_ "It's not bad I mean we didn't really get started yet."

"You'll never get anything done with that idiot as a partner" he said boredom in his voice

"T-That's not true I know that Naruto will do his best" not meeting his eyes and blushing like always whenever she talked or thought about Naruto.

Sasuke just snorted

Thinking to just go along with the conversation Hinata sighed and started again.

"The poems we have are really depressing though, so brooding and torturous about life and love" she sighed

"Tsk...I suppose you wish you would have gotten something more optimistic" he said bitterly

"Not really" she shrugged her eyes a little misty and face dreamy, lost in her own little world

What? Sasuke snapped his head up and looked at her unsure if he heard her right

"Why would you want to read something that's torturous and depressing?" he asked

"Well I-I guess b-because i-it's helpful.." she said nervously fidgeting with her fingers

"How is being sad and getting depressed helpful!" Sasuke retorted back

"B-Because...H-How can we know what joy is if we never look at the sorrow in life? She replied quietly with her head bowed and eyes closed, afraid that he was getting angry

She waited for his answer expecting him to have a comeback since Sasuke excelled at everything and thought a little philosophy would be no problem for him. After a minute Hinata peeked one eye open to look at him.

Sasuke just stared at her almost like he was intrigued with what she just said Hinata thought. She was nervous now unsure if what she said had calmed him down or annoyed him even more

"Hn" he finally responded his face expressionless again

Hinata let out her breath quietly as she could. She felt relief that he wasn't angry.

Once again silence filled the room but this time Hinata felt no desire to keep talking. Unsure of what to do she just sat there with her eyes down and hands in her lap.

All Hinata could hear were the drips of water coming from the sink in the kitchen and Sasuke's chewing. Feeling braver than she should Hinata broke the silence again

"S-Sasuke?"

Sasuke looked at her still eating

"C-Can I get out of this thing?"

Sasuke looked up and down at her maid outfit, his eyes lingering a little too long on her chest making her turn red and wished that she could hide in a corner as far away from him as possible

"Yeah, Whatever"

Hinata smiled unconsciously at him happy that he said yes and left to go change.

Once Hinata was in her own clothes again; black jeans a little tighter than she would like when around Sasuke and a loose fitting red hoodie that fit her nicely but still hid her big _assets_.

He wasn't in the dining room when she came back and saw that he had finished his meal. Hinata decided to try the living room not wanting to check his room first. Sure enough Sasuke was in the living room sitting in an all-around brown sofa with a book in his lap. He didn't look up or acknowledge her when she came in the room. Not sure what she should do she took a seat across from him and sat there for a while.

"S-Sasuke?" Her voice soft and cautious

He looked up

"C-Can I go now?"

Sasuke stared at her for a moment before he turned his head and looked at the clock on the wall. It was 15 minutes till 9:00.

You have a curfew? He asked

"N-Not really but my family is use to me being home by now"

He closed his eyes and sighed "Yeah...fine I'll take you home" he scoffed grabbing his keys

Hinata fidgeted with the end of her sleeve; she really didn't mean to be a burden to him she just wanted to go back to the safety and comfort of her family and away from his stony glare and cold voice. She would have preferred to run all the way home again but letting him drive would get her there faster so she followed him to his Mercedes- which was now black she noticed without complaint.

Sasuke dropped her off on the corner of her house like she asked him to before they left his house. Hinata, sitting in the front seat this time opened the door to get out when Sasuke grabbed her wrist.

She flinched from his touch making Sasuke eyes narrow as he released her hand down rather harshly.

"Do you work tomorrow?" his voice cold with a hint of anger

"Y-Yes" she managed to squeak out

"What time?"

"5:30"

"Meet me in the library right after your last class near the South end" Sasuke said firmly

"K" and with that Hinata got out and quickly went to her front door stumbling along the way. As she pulled out her keys she looked back expecting to see Sasuke but his car was almost out of sight already.

_How much longer can I keep this up__?_ Hinata thought as she turned the key and let herself inside. That was the 5th day of being Sasuke's maid.

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**Sasuke's POV**

Sasuke was smoking a cigarette, leaning on the front of his car on a high hill that out looked Konoha. It was his favorite spot to come to when he couldn't take any more bullshit from his family and friends. It was near midnight and he decided that he had driven around long enough and decided to stop and have a smoke. He took a long drag as he looked at the sky. The lights of Konoha made the stars hard to see but Sasuke could still make out a few here and there. He counted about six in total and a few airplanes that were flying by. He looked down again blowing out the smoke as it flew passed his face in the breeze. He frowned _It wasn't going the way I planned_ he thought. Taking another drag he thought about his little "game "he had started.

He had almost reached his boiling point. He had been about two days away from driving his car off this very cliff when he finally found an opportunity to vent out his anger and depression. He didn't exactly know when he began to think about her, it wasn't like he found her significant or anything like that…. he just noticed her one day. It was almost a year ago when he was saw the little camellia blossom. It was back when he finally gave in and decided to go out with Sakura. Part of him wanted to know if she could make him happy and feel love like she had kept telling him he could and another part thought that by getting with Sakura he wouldn't have to deal with the screaming and squealing girls that fought like wolves and fed like sharks over him...but no he didn't get off that easy... he still couldn't get those leeches away from him even though he had a girlfriend.

They still came after him... Unless Sakura was clinging to his arm they were always there no matter how much Sakura threatened them. All their faces started to look the same and they began to mesh into a single hideous blob of girls that called his name and tried to devour him every chance it got. After a while even Sakura had begun to look like it too. A disgustingly hideous creature that was only interested in his body and to mold him into being something that he wasn't. It became harder and harder just to kiss her (something he had never been comfortable with much anyway)

Everyone in school expected him to be this cool, elite carefree guy like Naruto but that wasn't him and never would be. Not to say that he wasn't cool and elite but he lost his happiness a long time ago and nothing was ever going to bring him peace. Most days he just wanted to die and hope that the afterlife wasn't as shallow as the living world. Then he noticed that there was one girl who wasn't molded in with the blob. It took him a few days to really distinguish her from the blob just to make sure she wasn't slipping in and out of it to trick him. But… no….. after a while he could clearly see that she wasn't a part of that monster that stalked him during the day and haunted his dreams at night. In fact the girl didn't even _try_ to look at him. She was almost a head shorter than him with long shiny indigo hair that reached the small of her back. She looked nervous all the time and whenever she saw him looking at her she would turn away and blush but not out of infatuation but from fear. He laughed on the inside the first time he saw that. _This girl is afraid of me__!_he thought amused.

Just for fun he waited one day after school when he knew she had homeroom duties to see how she would react alone in a room with him. He had been walking in the hall way with that loud idiot who had made their presence and destination known before shaking him off and walking in the classroom he knew she was in. But she wasn't there when he came in and at first he thought she had already left but then he heard a faint noise from the closet in the back and he knew he had caught her. _She hiding in the closet!_ It took everything he had to keep his composure and look as if he hadn't heard her. He stayed in the classroom for a long time sitting on one of the desk just gazing out the window wondering when she was going to come out. But she never did and for giving him a good time he let her win that round.

After that he started to play close attention to her thinking he was lucky there was a girl who didn't act like a possessed demon around him and to wait for his chance to mess with her again. She was quiet and shy; she never voiced her opinion unless she was spoken to directly. She was always stuttering, fidgeting and tripping over her own feet and knocking into **everything****…** if he didn't think she was so pathetic he would have called her cute. He noticed that she went out of her way for others, always working hard behind the scenes and never taking any credit for it, almost like she was afraid to.

Another long drag letting the tobacco fill his lungs and calm his nerves. Hinata Hyuga...he learned her name not too long after his observations. She was literally a train wreck...her only friends were that dog boy, the bug nerd, the tomboy and that cousin of hers, other than that she was bullied and targeted by the other girls. He had seen them gain up on her one day and she looked so helpless he almost intervened. It annoyed the hell out of him that she never defended herself and worse never seemed affected by it once it was over. As soon as she was with her friends she was smiling and looked so happy and peaceful it infuriated him beyond reason. What the hell did she have to be so happy about? How could she still carry that smile and sweet nature of hers when her life looked as miserable as he felt? It was getting to be a borderline obsession of his, not that he had ever showed it. When he saw her at the His for a Month auction that Sakura had dragged him to he finally found an opportunity to test the limits of the little camellia. He finally found the thing that he can take out all his anger and make someone feel as bad as he did...

"Hinata Hyuga"... Sasuke said to himself

Today was different though… her words and actions were annoying him as he tried to figure out why she was trying to be nice to him after all he had done to her, what was she after? ... He knew that she was scared of him and that he made her uncomfortable just by being in the same room with him and that she was paralyzed when he touched her.

"Heh" he loved seeing her tremble and die a little every time she wore that maid outfit. But he had got more perks than he expected, she looked good in it, REALLY good. He never would have thought under all that baggy clothing was toned legs that were lean even though she was a little short, a small waist that he could wrap one arm around with a nice ass that stuck out perfectly in her small skirt. But what really surprised him was her big ample chest. How the hell did she hide those things all this time? They must have been a least a D-cup! He smirked to himself trying to think of the best way to find out…well given her shy nature he really shouldn't have been surprised that she went out of her way to cover herself- having a hot body like that would only attract attention to her -which she hated and not the kind of attention a little virgin like her could handle.

He exhaled some smoke out

She was definitely a camellia blossom- a flower without a scent. No fragrance whatsoever. It proclaims nothing, blooming in silence. When the blossoms petals fall and scatter it is quiet and goes unheard of completely insignificant. He smirked to himself... He Sasuke Uchiha would make her see that, he would crush that gentle spirit and make her understand what she was….. A flower without fragrance and without presence. He would finally make someone feel as badly as he did and he knew that the little flower would let him do it, she had no spine and no courage to stand up for herself. And when he was done she wouldn't be able to go back to being happy, he would wipe that smile off her face forever just like him...

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**AN: Okay so I thought adding some of Sasukes thoughts would make for a nice change around this time in the story a little dark but it's part of the plot development…reviews and suggestions are desperately welcomed**

**Hope you like it so far there will be other character insights soon too coming up in the next chapter not as important as Sasuke's but I think it's necessary…**

**P.S did I spell Sensei right?**


	3. A Watchful Eye

A Watchful Eye

Hinata was in History class the next morning with her head resting on the desk. When she got home her father had given her a stern lecture about staying out late on a school night, (like she said before she didn't technically have a curfew but she was usually always home) how she was supposed to be setting an example for her sister, how she should have told Neji where she was going to be (Neji had gotten home after her father did) and while she must always take her studies seriously the next time she had a project to work on it would be done in their home-Tenten not being an exception.

Hinata thought she had gotten off easy, probably because she had made sure they had dinner while she was out.

"HINATA"- a loud voice jerking her awake

"Eh! Oh Kiba don't do that" she said while trying to suppress a yawn laying her head back down and closing her eyes.

"Aww come on I haven't seen you in a while" Kiba barked nudging her side

It was true- it felt like forever since she had hung out with Kiba and Shino too for that matter. Her new schedule didn't really allow that much time for them. She felt guilty now. Shino and Kiba were just as much as her best friends as Tenten but she had managed to make more time for her. Well it was different because Tenten was a girl but she knew that wasn't an excuse..

"Sorry I'm just a little tired. I got up early to make breakfast and lunches for everyone" Hinata said

She had listened to her father's lecture obediently and respectfully but felt bad that she was lying to him and for getting Hanabi and Neji involved even if they did play along. So she had gotten up at around five and made them all bento lunches before she made them breakfast. She always made breakfast but didn't have time for lunches.

"Man your family's lucky, you're cooking's the best, but you could have made me something too since you haven't been around lately" Kiba said with a laugh

Hinata let out a playful groan her eyes still closed.

"It's not Hinata's fault that she doesn't have time" said a deep analyzing voice that Hinata recognized as Shino

"Why? Because being Sasuke's maid has taken away most of Hinata's free time not really leaving room for her to hang out with us" Shino finished. Hinata still didn't open her eyes but knew that Shino must be standing in front their desks.

"Heh, Yeah! That jerk! You know Hinata, me and Shino had put some money together and we were gonna try and win you at the auction but Sasuke beat us to it." Kiba said

Really? Why? She asked opening one eye and peeking at her two best friends.

"So that we wouldn't feel guilty about asking you to cook, clean and do our homework for us!" Kiba laughed

She now opened both of her eyes smiling at them.

"We had no chance of winning Hinata when the auction started. Why? Because Sasuke Uchiha is one of the richest guys in school, no one would have outbid him even if they tried" said Shino factually

"Whatever" Kiba said brushing off his comment. "Well we got you these to let you know we missed you" shaking a small light blue box in her face.

Hinata instantly recognized it as a box from her favorite bakery not too far from the school. She shot up straight in her seat beaming at both of them, Kiba laughing at her reaction while Shino simply nodded to her. She opened it and saw that inside were 4 medium sized macaroons 2 raspberry and 2 pistachio. She smiled happily as she looked at how the vibrant pink and green color clashed against the mellow blue box-They looked too pretty to eat!

Before Hinata could touch them Iruka Sensei came in and started class so she put them away deciding to save them for later. Hinata didn't really pay attention to Iruka's history lecture -she was too tired. If she wasn't so sleepy and distracted by the tick tack toe game she was playing with Kiba she might have noticed the stares she was getting from both Sasuke and Sakura.

**Sakura's POV**

_Why is he looking at her?_ Sakura wondered.. He never use to look at her. (Or so she thought) Every now and then Sakura saw Sasuke look over at Hinata and Kiba. His face looked the same as usual-the ultimate human statue of handsome and cool, but that still didn't explain why he kept looking at her. She looked from Sasuke to Hinata and back again until her eyes settled on Hinata.

She was surprised when he bought her at the Maid auction but only assumed he wanted someone to clean and do his homework and since she knew all the girls who dared to try and steal Sasuke away from her she never considered the Hyuga girl a threat although it did bother her to have another girl in his house...but when she walked into his room the other day and saw her in that outfit that looked more like something out of playboy than a maids uniform she immediately became suspicious towards Hinata.

But Hinata didn't seem like the kind of girl who would want to wear something like that...

Sakura could tell by the clothes she wore that she would never even try something like that on. So what happened? Did Sasuke force her to wear that? If he was into that sort of thing why didn't he ask her to do it? She would have done it if she had known _**that's **_what he liked.

He didn't even bother to explain himself when she bombarded him with questions or waiver when she told him to get rid of her as a maid. In the end he was silent and just made her feel guilty saying that she should trust him with another girl and that it was her idea to get her a maid outfit in the first place. She only meant it as a joke! She never thought he would do something like _**that**_. She saw his head turn in her direction again and felt her chest ache a little.

"Sasuke" she whispered her lip slightly trembling

She remembered the first time she saw him. She loved him the minute she laid her eyes on him and was determined ever since to become Mrs. Sasuke Uchiha. They became friends in middle school and she was so happy when they started going out last year. They were juniors now and she wanted to say things were going great and that they were talking about their plans after high school but she couldn't... At least she couldn't say that to herself.

It broke her heart to admit this but she still couldn't reach him. Every time they were together-with friends or alone, he always put up a wall between them. It was always there no matter how hard she tried to break it down. She wish that he would let her in and let her be there for him but he was always so guarded and she didn't know why.

Sakura turned to Naruto who was sitting next to her.

"Hey Naruto" she said

"Yeah, Sakura?"

"What do you think of Hinata?" she asked trying to sound casual..

"Huh? Hinata?" he looked over at her sitting with Kiba before he turned back to Sakura

"Hmm let's see..." scratching his chin with his finger, a look of deep thought on his face even though it was an easy question

"Well she's really smart and a little too quiet, her face is always red and she faints a lot which is really weird" he rambled ..."But she's really nice and easy to get along with" Naruto concluded

"Really" Sakura said thoughtfully

"Yeah" Naruto said lightly not noticing her change of mood.

"Heh heh, this one time in middle school it was Valentine's day and all the girls were trying to give Sasuke chocolates but I didn't get a single one. Then Hinata gave me a cupcake she said she made for me" Naruto said laughing as he remembered.

"Heh, I guess she felt sorry for me" Naruto said smiling

"Hmm" Sakura turned her attention back to Sasuke who was still looking at Hinata. Sakura kept an eye on Hinata for the rest of the day, quietly observing her.

* * *

The bell rang. It was the end of the day and Hinata had stopped by her locker before heading to the library. She was almost done putting away everything she didn't need when she saw the box with the bracelet Sasuke had given her. She still needed to give it back; she grabbed it and put it in her bag as she closed her locker.

"**Hey Hinata!"**

She turned around and saw Kiba and Shino walking towards her

"Hey" she said smiling at them

"We're going to the game center, wanna come?" Kiba asked

"I can't" she said regretfully. "Sasuke wants me to meet him in the library before I have to go to work- to do his homework I think" she added that last part rather quickly even though she knew that Kiba and Shino would never think anything else.

"Oh ok" Kiba said disappointedly "Well we'll stop by the Craven Haven later" Kiba waved as they set off

Once they turned the corner, Hinata started to walk towards the library.

* * *

**AN: I know this is a short chapter but the next one is going to be really long I promise. Anyway thanks for the reviews. I think the more reviews I get the faster I wanna update. So just to put it out there as I failed to do in my last AN the Camellia blossom is also called Tsubaki which I learned from watching Soul Eater episode 10. I just thought that it would be good to put that flower summary in there because I thought that Hinata and Tsubaki are very similar characters but that Tsubaki has more confidence than Hinata. Anyway there will be a lot more sweet and spicy SasuHina moments coming up because I want them to start to bond but not overnight. Both have to work hard to try and understand the other..**

**Please review, it lights a fire within me**

**Thoughts and Ideas are always welcome**


	4. The Library session

The Library Session

Hinata had made her way to the library eating the cookies Shino and Kiba had bought her. Her spirits were up even though she knew Sasuke was waiting for her. She sucked on the macaroon a little before each bite, it was a habit of hers.

In the library she made her way to the south end and saw Sasuke leaning against a table looking out the window. Students were walking home in pairs and groups.

"I'm here" she said as she finished the last macaroon

He turned his head looking at her and he slide a few books towards her.

"I need this done"

"K" she took a seat to his right and started to work.

Hinata flew through the math problems in 15 minutes and was working on his Biology when Sasuke spoke.

"Hey"

"Hm?" Hinata looked up from the textbook

The look on a his face was hard to make out, like he was in some sort of mental struggle. She waited patiently sitting there wondering what he was gonna say.

"Thank you...for the food yesterday" he finally said

"Oh" Hinata said looking back down "Your welcome"

"Your a good cook" she heard him say

"I'm nothing special" she said blushing feeling embarrassed

"No" he said lifting her chin so that she looked into his eyes and leaning towards her, their faces inches apart. "It was really good".

Hinata's eyes widened and her pulse raced. She turned her head to the side so that she was free from his grip. She felt really uncomfortable, this time not from his touch but from the sincerity of his words and the warmth in his eyes when he looked at her. She didn't like him looking at her like that.

10 minutes later she was done with the last question and closed the heavy book.

"Done" she said with a small smile, happy to have finished quickly.

"Anything else?" Hinata asked but he didn't say anything as he looked over her answers. Hinata took this opportunity to reach in her bag.

"Sasuke?" he looked at her

"I-I meant it when I said I couldn't keep this" she said sliding the box with the bracelet towards him.

Sasuke looked back down at her work and said "And I asked if you couldn't keep it or wouldn't keep it?" sliding it back to her

Hinata frowned a little but said "Okay, fine-I wont keep it" sliding it to him again

"And why wont you keep it" he asked

"B-Because...because" Hinata struggled to come up with a reason that wouldn't make him angry. "because it's not practical for a gift" deciding that he couldn't argue against that.

"Practical?"

"Yes" holding it out to him

"Huh, well I wasn't trying to be practical, so there you go" Sasuke said as he took the bracelet from the box and grabbed her wrist

Hinata tried to get out of his reach but failed as he clipped it on "Why wont you just take it" she asked exasperated while struggling to free herself so she could take it off

"Why wont you?" repeating her question back at her

Hinata was actually getting angry...no...not angry it took **a lot** for her to get angry...

No...she was getting upset_ Why is he being so insistent?_ She thought

Hinata tried to break free from his grip using her other hand but he grabbed that one too and now held them both

"Hey" he said with a look of amusement of his face as Hinata continued to get frustrated

"What!?" Hinata said

"You never asked me about my book"

Hinata froze...her eyes fearful she bit her bottom lip and bowed her head "I-Im sorry about that"

"Well you seemed to have a lot to ask me when you were asleep, but you haven't said a word since" Sasuke said

Hinata's whole body was shaking a little, she felt like a rabbit cornered by a wolf. There was no one else around the south end and most of the students had gone home already. She was on her own.

"It's not...W-What I mean is...I...I-I'm sorry t-that I looked through your things...I d-didn't mean to, i-it was an accident" she said hoping against all hope that there was a sympathetic bone in Sasuke's body

"Why haven't you asked me about it?"

Hinata bit her lip again but looked him in the eye as best as she could and said "I-It's none of my business"

"hn... tell me- letting go of her left wrist and tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear, What did you think when you read it?"Sasuke asked

"Um" turning her head to the side getting more embarrassed by the minute

Big mistake. She felt his thumb and forefinger gently touch her ear, holding it in place. Hinata jumped a little, turning her head to face him as she tried to step back but still unable to escape his hold on her.

"Heh... your ears seem to be your weak spot" he smirked rubbing them gently with his fingers. Hinata tried to break free but he was too strong. Still smirking he let go of her ear and wrapped his free arm around her putting his hand in the small of her back, pulling her closer to him. Their faces were close enough that they felt each others breath. Sasuke reached his head around and kissed her ear, slowly and softly stopping Hinata's attempt to get away as she froze.

Hinata let a small sound escape from her when he started to blow in her ear. Sensing the shiver down her spine Sasuke then nibbled and pulled on her earlobe oh so lovingly. His lips felt warm and cool... ...Hinata had never felt anything so pleasant before, she didn't know how to react to the sensations Sasuke was making her feel. Her head was spinning and every second that past felt like an eternity.

Hinata didn't want it to end.

_This is bad...I have to stop this_ Hinata thought but she couldn't move. Her whole body was on fire from the feel of Sasuke's lips. Her heart was thundering and she felt that it would explode form her chest at any minute.

"S-Stop" she whispered weakly with every ounce of willpower that she had as she absentmindedly pressed herself closer to him gripping his shirt. Sasuke then moved to her neck kissing his way down and giving her a bite near her collarbone. His teeth stung a little but she kinda liked it.

_This is too much_ Hinata felt dizzy and overwhelmed by her sudden arousal._ This isn't right...Sasuke has a girlfriend. This was wrong, this is so wrong!...and feels so good _she thought releasing another small groan as he continued to kiss and bite her.

"Sasuke p-please-"

"**SASUKE" **a loud voice broke the spell Sasuke had placed Hinata under. She jumped a little, startled as she was brought back to reality and thrown on the ground hitting a book self behind her causing a few books to fall on her.

It was a few seconds before she could register what happened. Sasuke had pushed her down! She looked up to see his expression was blank and unfazed by what just happened between them as he looked for the source of the noise. The next second Naruto had turned the corner, appearing in front of them and ignoring the "**Shhs**" from the librarian with a happy smile on his face at finding Sasuke.

"Teme there you are! I've been looking all over for you- what are you doing here?" Naruto asked. Then he saw Hinata who was getting up from the floor. "Oh hey Hinata I didn't see you there, what are you doing here?" he said

"Hi Naruto-kun, um I was just helping Sasuke with homework"Hinata said feeling a little dazed and her breathing a little hard. She was in too much shock from being thrown to be her usual nervous self around Naruto. She started to pick up the books that fell on her and put them back on the self.

"Sorry I didn't email you about our project" Naruto said with a guilty look on his face

"Huh?" Hinata said rubbing her bruised head before she realized what he was talking about. "Oh... it's ok I-I forgot" she said her stutter coming back. In truth she didn't forget and had actually been looking forward to Naruto emailing her all night and was a little sad when he didn't. But in that moment with Sasuke she couldn't even remember her own name.

"Oh, well that's good I guess" he said grinning that smile she loved and admired so much. "Well the report is due next week, so you wanna come over my house on Friday to work on it" Naruto said, then he looked at Sasuke who was watching their conversation. "Your not gonna need her on Friday right teme?"

Sasuke gave his best friend a mean look "Tsk yeah I do you idiot"

"Eh, what for? Its not like your house is ever dirty" Naruto said giving Sasuke a confused look

"It's none your business what I need her for-"

"So what do you say Hinata? Friday sound good? Naruto said ignoring Sasuke and turning to Hinata

Hinata felt like she was gonna faint. Studying with Naruto at his house... was this really happening? This had to be a dream right? Hinata opened her mouth when she remembered her fathers words _**Hinata from now on all school projects will be done here no exceptions, have I made myself clear?**_.

"Whats the matter Friday no good?" Naruto asked seeing her face fall after lighting up

"No no no no t-thats not it" waving her hands in front of her franticly "I-Its just...d-do you think ….Um that we could maybe work at my house instead? She said fidgeting with her fingers nervously not really looking at him afraid of his answer.

"Oh is that all? Heh, heh sure I'd love to go to your house" he said

Hinata felt herself smile. They had a half day on Friday which meant she had at least 2 hours alone with Naruto before anyone came home. Her father usually came home around 7 and Neji took advantage of half days to get in some extra training plus he would be busy with his extra curricular activities anyway and Hanabi didn't get out of school till 3 so there would be no one to there to bother them.

"Okay" she said

Naruto gave her his signature goofy smile and a thumbs up "Awesome than its a date"

Hinata felt her heart flutter

_Date,date,date,date_ rang through her ears

"Tsk some date loser" Sasuke voice jerked in

That killed Hinata's happy moment. She should have realized he would be a problem. Would he really make her work on Friday and keep her from spending time with Naruto, was he really that mean?

Oh yes, she had no idea what was in store for her...

"Eh? whatever Sasuke...oh by the way Sakura-chan is looking for you, are you guys done here?" he asked looking from Sasuke to Hinata.

Sasuke sighed "Just shut up already...go tell Sakura I'm coming right now" he said closing his eyes annoyed.

"Mmm all right and stop being so moody Sasuke lighten up" and with a last smile he waved at Hinata and ran off leaving Sasuke and Hinata alone.

Not really wanting to linger Hinata moved to pick up her bag her mind thinking about what Naruto said. She hoisted her bag over her shoulder when Sasuke grabbed her arm.

"Here" he said putting a thin cell phone in her hand

"Whats this?" she asked as her fingers glided over the touch screen.

"It's a phone" he said condescendingly

Hinata tried to give him a mean glare but all she managed was a pout. "I-I know that, I meant w-whats it for?"

"It's so I can call and text you whenever I need you" Sasuke said as if she should have known how obvious it was

"Oh" Hinata said. She thought of Tenten last night and how she answered the phone. He probably didn't want that happening again. She turned the phone over her delicate fingers still polished from her day with Sasuke's mom. Then Hinata realized that this was another gift.

"I'm not keeping this" she said in a small but firm voice.

"Yeah, I figured you'd say that... you can give it back after the month is over" he said walking away

"I'm not keeping this either" Hinata said quickly trying to take off the bracelet- "HEY" she said looking up to see he was already gone earning her a "**Shh" **from the librarian. Hinata stepped out of the secluded corner of the South end looking for Sasuke. But he was no where in sight leaving a frustrated Hinata with her new phone and the $2,000 bracelet in her hand. She sighed bowing her head in defeat and started walking to the exit when she felt a vibration from the phone. She unlocked the screen to see that she got a text.

**4:00 tomorrow. Dont come early.**

It was from Sasuke- _Great now he can always reach me _Hinata thought as she walked out of the library.

* * *

"Geez Hinata what took you so long" Kiba said in a exaggerated voice

Hinata was bringing him and Shino some sodas at the Craven Haven- She smiled at both of them as she set them down "Sorry"

"Well don't let it happen again" Kiba said playfully

Shino said nothing sipping his drink while Hinata giggled

"Okay- anything else guys?"

"Hmm lets see" Kiba said picking up a menu

Kiba and Shino always ate for free thanks to Hinata. Tenten was on a diet every other week, Neji didn't like the food served here preferring her cooking and Hanabi was such a picky eater she was only willing to eat the ice cream they had. It didn't cost her much to cover them so she didn't mind.

"We shouldn't take advantage of Hinata's hospitality" Shino said

"Im not taking advantage! I just haven't eaten anything since lunch" Kiba said scanning the menu

"It's ok Shino, you know I don't mind" Hinata said sweetly

"Ha, Yeah Shino don't worry so much" Kiba said laughing

Shino said nothing lightly drumming his fingers on the table

"All right gimme two double cheeseburgers with extra cheese and 2 extra patties on each-oh and some fries" Kiba said happily

Hinata nodded as she rolled her eyes at his ridiculous order. "K, I'll be out with your food soon" she said while placing her hand on Shino's shoulder giving him a reassuring smile to show she got his order too.

Kiba had eaten everything on the menu 3 times over already but Shino always ordered the same thing. Chicken soup with a side of melon bread. Weird combo but its what he liked to eat whenever he came here. She came out with their orders 7 minutes later and plopped herself down next to Shino. The Craven Haven was pretty empty so she knew it would be fine to sit with them for a while. "Enjoy" she said with a smile.

"Great, thanks Hinata"

"Thank you Hinata"

She watched them eat in silence for a minute when a thought came to her. She could ask them right? they were guys after all and it might help her understand her situation and come up with a solution.

"Hey can I ask you guys something?"

"Mmm" Kiba said with a mouth full of food. Hinata took Shino silence as a sign that he was listening

"What would it mean for a guy to give a girl something?" she asked keeping her question vague

Both looked at Hinata a little surprised before a grin spread across Kiba's face. "Who gave you something?" he asked seeing through her attempt to hide the truth. Hinata turned a little pink but was determined to keep her composure.

"No one, I'm just asking a question" she said

"Ha! Yeah right! C'mon a guy gave you something right? What he give you, flowers? Jewelry? Kiba pestered smiling

"N-No one, I swear I'm just asking" she said going red thinking about the bracelet that was in now in her bag, embarrassed that they saw through her so easily

"You wouldn't have asked unless something like that actually happened to you. You aren't the type to ask questions about that stuff for no reason or ask on behalf of someone else" Shino said calmly turning in his seat to face her better, breaking off a piece of bread. "So...who is it?

"It's no one" she repeated. There was no way she was gonna tell them about the bracelet or Sasuke.

"Aww come on, you can tell us- hey, hey is it Naruto?" Kiba said laughing out loud. Both knew about her crush on Naruto and always teased her about it whenever they had the chance- well Kiba did anyway.

Hinata was beet red by now. "Are you guys gonna answer the question or not?"

"Not until you tell us who it is?

"It's no one"

"Fine, if you don't wanna tell us we wont help you"

"Fine, I'll guess you'll be paying for the food then right?"

Kiba stopped laughing and frowned. Shino just stayed quiet. Hinata knew they didn't have any money because they spent it all at the game center.

"Heh, ok, ok you got us" Kiba said looking a little pleased that Hinata would threaten not to cover their bill. Shino nodded in compliance.

"Thank you- Well?" she asked

"Huh, I guess it would depend on the gift" Kiba said crossing his arms across his chest

"And when it was given" Shino added

"Let's say that it was a expensive gift and just given randomly" Hinata said

"In that case it would be because he likes the girl and it's his way of making a declaration" Shino said

"Yeah I agree, tsk but you wont see me getting some fancy gift to let a girl know I like her, naw I'd rather just man up and tell her myself" Kiba said scratching the back of his head

Hinata bit her lip. That didn't help her at all, there was no way Sasuke liked her- he just liked to treat her like some toy and he had a girlfriend for goodness sake. So what was it? Why did he buy her that bracelet and why wouldn't he take it back?

"W-What if you know the guy doesn't like the girl that way and is already into someone else? She asked still keeping her questions vague looking down at her hands to avoid their gaze.

Kiba and Shino exchanged a look. They knew that Hinata was talking about herself but didn't want to pressure her into telling them the whole truth. But now they didn't like the turn of the question.

"That would mean the guy is no good and he's only after one thing" Shino said his brows narrowing

"This guy sounds like he's trying to play both girls" Kiba growled

"W-What would you guys tell a girl who knew a guy like that" Hinata asked eyes still down fidgeting with her fingers

"I'd tell the girl to return the gift" Shino said

"Or kick his ass" Kiba barked

"What if she couldn't do either?" she asked finally looking up

"Why wouldn't-

"Inform the other girl" Shino cut in

"Huh?"

"If a guy is trying to mess with two girls at the same time and one figures it out she should let the other girl know what she's getting herself into. I think that would be the right thing to do" Shino said picking up his spoon.

_The other girl _Hinata thought..._That's it!_

* * *

Hinata was nervous as she made her way down the school hallway her eyes on the back of the head of the pink haired girl the next day. Classes had just ended and she had been waiting for an opportunity to talk to Sakura all day but she was always surrounded by people since she was so popular. Hinata finally saw her go in one of the girls bathroom by herself and she quickened her pace following her. When Hinata walked inside she was happy to see that there was no one else inside. Sakura was standing in front of a mirror putting on some lip gloss when she looked at Hinata.

"Um Sakura c-can I talk to you?"...

* * *

**AN: Thats it for this chapter :) Don't worry I have the next one almost complete but it would have been awkwardly long to add the next part to this one. Sorry for not updating faster, it's finals week and I have been swamped with school work plus I rewrote this chapter 3x and I'm still not really satisfied with this version. At first I had Hinata have the conversation with Neji but then I thought it would be better to have her talk about that kind of stuff with Kiba and Shino- Neji would just freak out. I really wanted to show Team 8's close bond and friendship with their unique but complimenting personalities. Of all the rookie 9 in Naruto Team 8 is my favorite. I'm going to bring Neji in some time later on at the right moment because I love their close and special relationship, truthfully I also ship NejiHina and was so sad when he died- I hope somehow they can bring him back to life. But don't worry this story is strictly SasuHina. Like I said before it will be certain events and some effort that bond them together. **

**Please please review it makes me so happy to know what you guys think. Also any ideas of what you would like to see are definitely welcomed and will seriously be considered.**


	5. Dirty Move

Dirty Move

Sakura put her hands on her hip asserting herself as the dominate one in the room. She was in her Konoha red and white cheerleader uniform. She had practice today and if she didn't hurry Ino would stick her in the bottom of the pyramid for the rest of the week even if she was co-captain.

"What is it?" Sakura asked her eyes narrowing as she looked at Hinata. Even though she looked confident and on guard inside Sakura was trying to push down the ominous feeling she was getting.

"W-well Ive been meaning to talk to you all day but I haven't had the chance" Hinata said

"Really, what about?" Sakura said

"Um i-its about S-Sasuke" she said. Hinata wasn't really scared of Sakura like she was with Sasuke but she was nervous of what she was about to do.

"What about Sasuke" Sakura growled as anger and fear started to rise in her chest. Sakura got nothing form her observation of the indigo girl in front of her. Hinata never looked at Sasuke, she never tried to talk or flirt with him, she didn't sneak to his locker and try to slip in any love letters or declarations like all the other girls did. It was like Sasuke didn't exist to Hinata, something Sakura couldn't understand at all. She was happy at least that Hinata didn't like him but she still had no idea why this girl had sparked some kind of interest in Sasuke and had taken his attention away from her.

Taking a deep breath Hinata said "H-he told me to give this to you"- digging in her bag and pulling out a small box decorated in sapphire blue wrapping paper and adorned with a beautiful black satin ribbon tied in a bow.

Inside was the bracelet Sasuke had given her. After her talk with Shino and Kiba yesterday Hinata had decided that the best way for her to return the bracelet was to give it to Sakura. She was his girlfriend after all and deserved a gift like that from him more than Hinata did. She wrapped it herself with some things she found in their Christmas closet and Hinata thought she did a really good job making it look simple, elegant and alluring... _kinda like Sasuke _(wait did she just think that?)

Sakura looked at the box totally surprised, Sasuke wasn't the type to give her presents out of the blue like this. He only got her gifts during the Holidays and her birthday and even then she had to tell him what she wanted or else she got nothing since he didn't like to shop for that kind of thing.

"What's this?" she asked

"I-I don't know exactly b-but it's a gift from Sasuke" Hinata said holding it out to her. She was glad that her and Sakura never really talked before or she might have known that Hinata was lying. She wasn't a good liar and her stutter gave her away most of the time. "I-I was suppose to give it to you yesterday b-but I didn't get to" Hinata said bowing in an apology.

Sakura took the box from Hinata eyeing her suspiciously. She didn't trust Hinata. She knew Sasuke would never just give her something for no reason and in her mind Hinata was just another girl trying to come in between her and Sasuke so she could steal him away (even though she had no actual proof).

"Why didn't he give this to me himself?" Sakura huffed

"H-he said t-that if he gave it to you himself that y-you would open it in front of everyone and make it a big deal out of it" Hinata answered timidly afraid that Sakura was catching on.

Sakura's face fell and a blush spread across her face. "Oh" was all she could say. Now she felt like an idiot. Of course Sasuke wouldn't want to give this to her in front of everyone- she hated to admit it but she would have made a big deal out of the fact that he had gone out of his way to get her a gift. _And why shouldn't I make a big deal, we're in a relationship and it's about time he started showcasing his love for me with romantic gestures like this_ Sakura thought.

"Why didn't you give this to me yesterday" she asked Hinata in a harsh tone- what had taken her so long?

Hinata flinched "Y-you were always with your friends and Sasuke specifically said t-to give it to you when you were alone"

"Oh" Sakura said again..."S-...sorry Hinata" she said with a small smile feeling guilty. Sakura felt bad now. Sasuke was just using Hinata as his maid and she was only doing what he told her to do. The truth was Sakura actually thought Hinata looked like a really sweet girl and she shouldn't take her jealousy and insecurity out on her. She still didn't trust her but she couldn't help but feel like if she was mean to Hinata she would use it against her and would fall into Sasukes arms as the damsel in distress while she would come off looking like the evil witch out to get her.

"N-nonono it's my fault for not coming to you sooner Sakura...well I'll see you around I guess" Hinata said spinning on her heel and walking out the door.

Sakura looked down at the present in her hand smiling. _What pretty wrapping_ she thought as she untied the ribbon and began to rip the paper. When she opened the box her eyes widened and her hand moved to her lips. She lifted the bracelet so that it sparkled in a better light. Her eyes began to water and a few tears slid down her cheeks as a smile spread across her face. _Oh Sasuke how could I have doubted you_ she thought as she put it on her wrist and walked out of the bathroom. "I can take it off when practice starts" she said to herself happily.

**Hinata Hyuga: 1 Sasuke Uchiha: 0**

* * *

Hinata was walking to Sasukes house with a her head held high. She was so glad it went well with Sakura. She thought giving her the bracelet was the best idea she ever had and it worked out perfectly. Besides if she told Sakura the truth about Sasuke making her wear that maids outfit, treating her like some sex kitten and the incident in the library- she shuddered thinking about that, Sakura probably wouldn't believe her and if she did would try and blame her thinking she was _**trying**_ to tempt Sasuke.

Hinata checked the time on the phone Sasuke had given her

**3:58 **

She had two minutes to go to reach Sasuke's house and she was almost there. Hinata decided to keep the phone he gave her because she was pretty sure Sakura had one of her own and Sasuke said he would take it back when the month was over. Plus it was a good way for him to reach her so she would know right away if he needed her and wouldn't have to deal with his anger. He said not to come early so she figured she would wait outside until it was exactly 4:00 before knocking. She reached his gate and opened it letting herself in. Checking the phone again- **4:00. **Good! right on time. She raised her fist ready to knock when the door swung open and there stood Sasuke in front of her. Hinata gasped and jumped back a little startled. Sasuke rolled his eyes and grabbed her hand yanking her inside and slamming the door behind her.

"Why are you so scared all the time, its annoying" he asked

"because your scary" Hinata said without thinking. She blinked as she looked at Sasuke who only blinked back at her an awkward silence filling the room.

Hinata yelped realizing how rude what she said was "I-I'm s-sorry I-I d-didn't mean-

"You think I'm scary?"Sasuke asked glaring at her

"N-no n-n-n-n-no I-I-I- her tongue tripping over her every word as her eyes averted his death stare and looked around everywhere else.

"Shut up" he said pulling on her arm "Let's go" pushing her up the stairs to his room. Hinata let out a slight "ow" she hoped he didn't hear making her way up the stairs. Less than 5 seconds since she arrived and she already managed to make him angry. He still didn't know about the bracelet and Hinata hadn't really thought of how he would react when he found out what she did.

_Too bad_ she thought as they entered his room _nothing I can do now, it's his own fault anyway for being so stubborn...Well I only have to deal with him for the rest of the month so no matter how bad it might be it will all eventually end and I wont have to be around him anymore..._

"Are you listening?" a hand waved in front of her face, snapping her out of her thoughts

"Huh" Hinata said looking up at Sasuke

"That's another thing about you that's annoying, you never seem to listen to me when I'm talking to you" Sasuke said his temper boiling

"S-sorry" she said fidgeting with her fingers

"And stop doing that!" he yelled smacking her fingers away from each other making her close her eyes as she whimpered a little.

"I really, really hate repeating myself Hyuga" he said his eyes narrowing at her. She looked at him fearfully but showed him that she was now listening.

"Your going to paint my room again" he said scowling at her

Looking around she noticed everything in his room was moved again and the bucket of black paint was on the floor.

"So soon? Isn't that bad or something" Hinata asked

Sasuke looked at her with his signature bored stare and said "It's fine and I'm sick of this color"

Hinata frowned a little, she honestly thought it was a nice color and it even added warmth to his over all cold dungeon but she kept her mouth shut already terrified and on thin ice. She nodded.

Sasuke smirked as moved to pick up the brown bag on the floor. Hinata knew what was in there and sighed hating that she had to wear that thing again. But instead of handing it to her like he usually did he picked it up and started walking towards her while she stepped back away from him until she felt herself hit the door behind her. He stopped in front of her grabbing the top of her jacket* and began to unzip it...

"Why do you wear so much clothes?" Sasuke asked

Hinata pushed his hands away and grabbed the bag from him "Don't" was all she said before she shoved past him and went into his bathroom locking the door behind her. Leaving Sasuke chuckling before he collapsed on the bed with his hands behind his head.

Hinata was almost done on the third wall...one more and she would be done. Her arms were getting tired as she painted another stroke of black over the green humming to herself.

"Reach higher" Sasuke said in a quiet voice but loud enough for her to hear making Hinata freeze. Looking back she saw that he had moved to his chair and was watching her- delight twinkling in his eyes. She was on her toes trying to reach the very top of the wall, she came down on her feet to give him what she hoped he saw was a look of disgust before she turned back to the wall and on her toes again this time with one hand behind her trying to push down her short skirt. She heard him laugh at her attempt to cover herself up now knowing that she had been giving him a very good show moments before. Her face was so red she wouldn't be surprised if it became her permanent skin color.

She moved the paint roller down the wall- "bend down" he said in the same quiet voice forcing Hinata to halt her movements and bend so that she was sitting on her heels- a little painful but better than bending over in front of him. Again she heard him laugh.

_I'm almost done, I'm almost done and then I'll be at work _

She needed to get done with the last wall in 15 minutes so she would make it to work on time. But her hands were shaking as she thought of him staring at her so creepy. She needed to distract both of them so she cleared her throat and glanced at him over her shoulder.

"Sasuke?"

"Hmm?"

"Why did you want black paint?" Hinata asked

"Why not" he said

"D-don't you think it's kinda depressing and gloomy" she said

"Didn't you said that's a good thing in life?" he asked her remembering their previous conversation.

"I said it's good to reflect on, not that it's good to be surrounded by" Hinata said quickly moving the roller up and down halfway done with the last wall.

"I like black because it represents elegance, strength and power" Sasuke said crossing his fingers and closing his eyes

"B-but doesn't it also represent darkness and evil?" she asked on her heels again stroking the bottom of the wall.

Sasuke shrugged his shoulders "If that's all you want to see it as then yeah I guess". Hinata said nothing but continued to paint the wall – she was so close to being done.

Annoyed at her lack of response Sasuke said "What's so great about green anyway?"

Hinata looked over her shoulder at him with a small smile on her lips "T-The fact that it's not black" she said trying to be funny but all Sasuke did was scowl at her while an evil aura started to radiate from him. She quickly looked away and went back to the wall.

"Okay done" she said placing the roller in the bin of paint as she looked around. She thought she did a pretty good job considering she finished in 1 hour and 10 minutes. She looked down at herself and saw that her hands and fingers had paint on them as well as her maid outfit. Sasuke noticed too and sighed thinking about how he had to buy her a new one.

Hinata moved to his bathroom where her regular clothes were in that brown bag. "Sasuke I have to go or I'll be late for work"

"Don't worry I'll give you a ride" he said rising from his chair and walking over to her and wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing her to him. He held her for a second before he turned her around as he unzipped her corset exposing her back as Hinata held the front up to keep herself covered. But Sasuke didn't stop as his hand moved to her lower back while giving her a kiss on the back of her neck and tried to take off her skirt which also zipped in the back.

"S-Stop it!" Hinata said squirming to get away from him

"I'm only trying to help you" he said suggestively as he tugged on her skirt

"I-I don't want your help!" she yelled as she managed to get away and making a dash to the bathroom slamming it shut. She leaned against the door her breathing heavy as she locked it trying to calm down.

_This wont last forever... I have to stay strong...I know I can get through this..._

* * *

Hinata was at home eating dinner with her family. Like always Hanabi had control of the conversation but she was careful not to be too rash and energetic in front of her father. Hinata had made Chicken Katsu with rice and tonkatsu sauce. They had Strawberry Uiro waiting for them in the kitchen for dessert- her fathers favorite. Neji grudgingly listened to his little cousins ramblings but noticed Hinata's silence. Hinata was usually quiet during their meals but she would talk every once in a while. But today her mind seemed to be somewhere else.

Neji glanced at her to see her eyes were down and that she had hardly touched her plate. He wanted to know what was wrong but decided that it would have to wait till after dinner. Neji turned to talk to his uncle so he wouldn't notice Hinata's mood.

After they finished their meal Neji had gone upstairs and was outside of his room in the hallway waiting for Hinata to come out of her fathers study as she served him tea and a few more uiros. He could hear their muffled voices but couldn't make out what they were saying. He heard the door open and saw Hinata coming out closing the door behind her. She saw Neji waiting for her and gave him a warm smile holding out the tray in front of her as she walked toward him. Looking at the tray Neji saw that there was still a cup of tea and two uiro cakes on it. He smiled at her realizing she had prepared that for him and without words invited her to his room.

Neji only let Hinata in his room and no one else. Although he was close to Hanabi it was nothing compared to Hinata. Neji and Hanabi only thought of themselves as cousins while he and Hinata thought of themselves as brother and sister. She was always there for him and had taken care of him when his parents died even when he didn't always appreciate it. She was very kind and gentle to him and he values her friendship and love more than anything and would do everything possible for her safety and happiness. Neji had sensed something was troubling her the minute she came home but felt it was something she would rather talk about in private so he waited to be alone with her so he could ask her about it.

"What are you studying tonight Nii-san" Hinata asked sitting down on the bed, the tray still in her hand after she had placed the tea and cakes in his desk.

"French" Neji said "I thought I might get in some extra work in since we have that test on Friday"

They were in the same AP French class and usually studied together on thursdays and today was wednesday but Neji wanted to be prepared for the test so he was taking extra time to study for it.

"Oh right... I should study as well, its a verbal test and I still can't roll my Rrrrs as well as you" Hinata said

"You speak it very good though, unless you were in France many would think you were native to the language" Neji said facing her in his chair while grabbing his text books.

"Thank you Neji-niisan" she said smiling at him

Placing his books on his desk he grabbed his tea and took a sip before looking at her. "Whats wrong Hinata?" he asked with his mature yet gentle voice. Gentle only with her and on occasions Hanabi.

"Eh? Oh nothings wrong Neji" Hinata said waving a hand in front of her

Neji sighed as he took another sip of tea "Hinata" he said firmly "You cant lie to me so don't even try I know you too well"

Hinata bit her lip knowing that it was true but she couldn't tell Neji what was going on. Neji would be so angry with not only Sasuke but with her too. She didn't want to see the look of disappointment and disgust in his eyes if she told him how she let Sasuke degrade and use her like some sex toy. She already felt stressed and humiliated by her situation and telling Neji would only make her feel more ashamed.

"W-Well it's about the His for a Month thing..." she said nervously her eyes on the floor

Neji got up and sat next to her on the bed and took her hand "Tell me" he said

Hinata decided she would just tell him part of the truth... she really didn't need Neji as another thing on her stress list. "I-It's just a little hard finding time for everything now that I have to deal with that" she said ….. "With school and work, and now working for Sasuke I'm just a little stressed out thats all" she finished with a false smile she thought he would buy.

"Oh I see... if all that is making you stressed why not just quit being his maid?" Neji said "It's not like he actually pays you and I know Tenten wont object if she knows your stressed"

Hinata shook her head giving him the best smile that she could "No no I-I'm telling you it's fine Neji plus I-I need to learn to deal with stress better...I-I'll be going to college in a year or two and there will be harder times than this I'm sure …...s-so I-I think I should handle this...on my own" she said that last part weakly not looking at him

Neji was at a loss for words. On one side of the coin he agreed that she needed to become stronger emotionally but on the other side he knew that she was very delicate and would not ask for help when she truly needed it. Plus he didn't like the Uchiha, if he didn't have a girlfriend Neji would have never permit Hinata to be alone with him...but Neji still couldn't help but get a bad feeling from him.

Hinata peeked at him to see his handsome face was calm and relaxed. He said nothing for a while still holding her hand... "All right" he finally said "but if I see you getting worse Hinata I will step in if it becomes too much for you"

Hinata let out a low exhale in relief...yes that would suffice for now but Neji was so over protective his opinion of "worse" was not on the same level as hers. She nodded and smiled at him "Mmm"

Neji gave her a quick peck on the cheek before she got up and left his room so he could study.

* * *

Hinata felt better after her talk with Neji although she didn't really know why...maybe it was just nice to know that she could always count on him whenever she needed him. But she was determined not to get him involved with Sasuke but it made her feel good that he was giving her a chance to prove that she was growing into a mature young women who could fight her own battles.

She was in her room having finished her homework and was watching Roman Holiday on her TV. She had a thing for old classic American films and was on the part where Joe meets Anya on the Spanish Steps when she heard a vibration coming from her bag. Pausing the movie she reached in her bag and saw that she had gotten a text.

**Come outside**

Hinata felt her hands shake as she text back

**Sasuke?**

She waited a few seconds before he replied

**Who else idiot**

Hinata gulped as she moved across her bed and looked out her window. Looking out into the street she didn't see anyone just a couple of parked cars

She text him again.

**I don't see you**

She waited another 15 seconds before he responded

**I'm on the corner where I dropped you off**

Hinata looked out the window again and craned her neck to try and see his car but she couldn't see a thing. She felt another vibration and looked down

**Now Hyuga!**

Hinata felt scared already... she noticed he used her last name when ever he was angry with her. It was almost 11:00 what the hell could he want now? She sent him a text as she put on some boots.

**Okay**

Hinata grabbed her jacket* and made her way quietly downstairs, everyone was in their rooms by now and is she made any noise she would be caught right away. She left through the back door in the kitchen leaving it unlocked and quietly made her way through the back yard to the front. She felt her heart race nervously as she walked to the corner. Hinata was trying to think of the possible reasons he would come to her house in the middle of the night (although she had a pretty good idea why)

Hinata halted when she saw his black mercedes and 2 glowing red eyes looking in her direction. No it couldn't be Sasuke didn't have red eyes... her mind must be playing tricks on her...forcing her legs to move she slowly walked towards him until she was about 3 feet away from him.

Sasuke was leaning against his car looking at her with murder in his eyes and his face in a mean scowl. His hands were across his chest shaking like he was struggling to control his anger and not strangle her.

"You play dirty Hyuga"

In that second Hinata saw her whole life flashed before her eyes..._I am going to die_

* * *

_*_The jacket she wears in Shippuden

**AN: Sorry for the slow update, to tell you guys the truth I held out on putting up this Chapter because I was hoping to get more reviews. I know its bad but I can't help it I love reading your reviews and I just wanted more. So what do you guys think? It was a little hard coming up with the title for this chapter and I might change it if I can think of a better one. Ive been doing a lot of research for this story because I really want it to have a lot of accurate Japanese cultural elements mixed in with my ideas. So hope you guys like this and I'm already writing the next chapter so until then please please please review and any suggestions are always welcomed.**


	6. Engaged to be Engaged

_Hinata halted when she saw his black mercedes and 2 glowing red eyes looking in her direction. No it couldn't be Sasuke didn't have red eyes... her mind must be playing tricks on her...forcing her legs to move she slowly walked towards him until she was about 3 feet away from him._

_Sasuke was leaning against his car looking at her with murder in his eyes and his face in a mean scowl. His hands were across his chest shaking like he was struggling to control his anger and not strangle her._

"_You play dirty Hyuga"_

_In a split second Hinata saw her whole life flashed before her eyes...I am going to die_

* * *

Engaged to be Engaged

A few hours earlier...

Sasuke was driving Hinata to work with a small smile on his face as he drove. He glanced at her from the corner of his eyes and then turned his head slightly when he saw that she was looking out the window. She hadn't spoken a word ever since they left his house a few minutes ago and they were at a red light.

Drumming his fingers on the steering wheel he decided to make some conversation as her silence -something he would have normally appreciated with anyone else was getting boring.

"So... is it a disease or some kind of mutation?" Sasuke said looking at her

"What?" Hinata said turning her head and confused

"Is it a disease or some kind of mutation?" Sasuke said annoyed that he had to keep repeating himself around her...didn't she know how to listen?

"Is _what_ a disease or mutation?" Hinata asked not understanding his question

Sasuke looked at her before he turned his eyes back to the street, the light just having turned green again. "Your eyes" he said...

"Do you and your cousin have some kind of disease that make your eyes look dead like a ghost or what?" he asked his face completely calm but on the inside he was fighting hard not to laugh when he saw her gaping at him.

Hinata looked away from him her gaze back to the passing scenery. She clenched her teeth together as she balled her hands into fists ... How dare he... Sasuke was so...he was such a... tears were streaming down her face even though she tried her best to stop them as her whole body shook in anger.

Sasuke looked at her again as he turned a corner about five minutes away from the Craven Haven. He smiled when he saw the tears roll down her cheek. "Or maybe it's some sort of mutation, my brother has this friend who was born with a mutation that makes his eyes have this dark ripple pattern- its really freaky" he said

Hinata wiped her face with her hands before giving him a stern look "My _light _eyes are a signature trait from my family. The Hyuga family have been known for the unique beauty of our eyes for generations" she said proudly

Sasuke just gave her a look before driving into the parking lot "So it's a hereditary mutation just like I thought" he said nodding coming to a stop

Hinata, already angry decided not to dignify that with a comment and let herself out of the car slamming the door, not looking back at him as she made her way inside the restaurant.

Sasuke chuckled as he watched her walk away in a huff. It was becoming easier and easier to get her upset and more amusing as he started to see her cry and get angry. He smiled as he drove out of the parking lot..._ Heh he, this is getting more fun_

* * *

Back in his drive way Sasuke shut off the car and slumped back in his seat. He reached in his pocket and finally checked his phone. People could think what they wanted of him but one thing Sasuke would not do is text, talk or drink while driving- never would he be responsible for endangering the lives of others for something as stupid as answering a phone call that could have waited for later.

He had gotten 6 missed calls and 10 texts from Sakura. All the texts were the same- **Call Me**. He frowned and sighed... she knew better than to overload his phone with messages...They were gonna see each other later so what was the point in calling so much- but not wanting to get her mad he went to his contacts and dialed her number.

It was half way through the first ring when she picked up

"SAUSKE!" she squealed causing him to hold the phone slightly away from his ear

"Hey...whats with all the calls? You know I don't like that" he said

"Oh, I'm sorry Sauske- I just can't wait to see you" her voice seemed unusually high for some reason, but he didn't think too much of it assuming she must be excited about something trivial like finding the perfect pair of shoes for the hundredth time

"Uh huh" he said

"So where are you? Everyone's meeting at Ino's house and Shikamaru and Choji are getting the grill ready for some barbecue!" she said her voice squealing in Sasukes ear

"Mmm"

"So hurry up and get here! I miss you sooo much, I want to see you so badly Sasuke!"

Sasuke tilted his head back in his seat, moving the phone to his lap so she wouldn't hear him let out another sigh. He could practically see her face as she said that and it was the same face she wore every time she was ready to try and pounce him. _Is that all she ever thinks about?_

"Hello?...hello?...Sasuke? Are you still there?" said the small voice coming from the phone, he brought it back to his ear knowing that he didn't miss anything important.

"Yeah" he said

"Come over all ready! What are you waiting for?" Sakura said

"I'm on my way to pick up Naruto, once I get him we'll head over there" Sasuke said. That really wasn't what he had planned on doing but now that he said it out loud it made sense. It would give him time to let her calm down from whatever she was so happy about.

"Oh... Ok, well hurry up and get here quick!" she exclaimed

"All right see you in a bit" he said

"I love you Sasuke" Sakura said softly

"Yeah" was all he said as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat... "Bye"

"See you soon" Sakura squeaked

And with that Sasuke hung up the phone as he slumped back in his seat again. The "L" word on his mind. It was only a month after they started dating when Sakura had said that to him. He knew that she was being sincere and that she really did love him but he still hadn't said it back yet. Sauske knew he didn't love Sakura the way she loved him and was still unsure about their relationship as a whole. He didn't _dislike_ being with her even if she was annoying 99% of the time... but still...she said she could make him happy and feel real love...he was still waiting for it.

Sasuke felt a hard pressure coming from his chest. Muttering to himself he pulled out a cigarette and lit it up. He wasn't a real big smoker but he needed it once in a while when his nerves were really starting to get to him. Exhaling the smoke out he kept thinking about Sakura. He didn't understand how that word came so easy to her or how she couldn't understand why it was so hard for him. Once and only once had he let her see a glimpse of his real self and his life and she acted like it was nothing that couldn't be fixed with a little "fun".

He sighed as he grabbed his phone again. Sometimes he wondered why they were still together... Tsk whatever... there was no sense in thinking about this... it was pointless. No one really cared if they were together, no one would care if they broke up, no one cared...no one noticed he was...

Shaking his head from these depressing thoughts Sasuke put out the cigarette and called Naruto.

"Hey Sasuke! What's up" the overenthusiastic blonde answered

"Hey, where are you? Everyone's going to Ino's" Sasuke said apathetically to his best friend

"Oh yeah I heard..I'm at Ichiraku's " Naruto said

Sasuke rolled his eyes. He should have known, the fool practically lived at the ramen shop.

"All right... stay there dobe, I'm coming to get you" Sasuke said starting up the car again

"Mmm Hmhm" Naruto slurred, his mouth full of noodles.

_Disgusting _Sasuke thought as he ended the call.

* * *

Sasuke and Naruto arrived at Ino's house a little later. Once Sasuke was at Ichiraku's he ordered himself a bowl of ramen along with Naruto wanting kill some time so that Sakura wouldn't be so hyper when she saw him.

Ino's house was pretty impressive though not as big as his own house. Her family did very well for a business that focused on flowers and things like that. Everyone knew that Ino's mother was the real money maker with her interior design business that was really successful along with their flower shop. While her father worked alongside with Shikamaru and Choji's dads at Uchiha Corp. for Sasukes father. Ino grew up with a positive female influence in her life that made her very confident and hardworking even if she was a bit scheming and bossy. Of all the Sasukes fangirls or should he say ex-fangirl, he actually had some respect for Ino, even if he would never admit it to her.

After waiting a few minutes Ino answered the door, seeing who it was she smiled at both of them. "Hey guys come on in, we just put the food on the grill and it should be ready soon". She was still in her cheerleader uniform with a small pin attached to her top with the letter C on it distinguishing herself as captain. As Sasuke and Naruto made their way down the hall to the backyard they heard quick footsteps heading their way.

"SASUKE" Sakura yelled as she threw herself on him causing him to lose his balance and fall backwards with a loud thump as they both hit the floor.

"Grr...what the hell Sakura, whats wrong with you?" he snapped as he got off the floor annoyed as hell that she would tackle him like that.

"I missed you so much Sasuke" she said apparently not hearing a word he just said or noticing his angry glare.

"But I just saw you a few hours ago at Sch-" he was cut off by Sakura wrapping her arms around his neck and pressing her lips against his. Sasuke tried to push her off but she was having none of it when she locked her arms together and continued to kiss him.

When Sasuke finally did manage to pull her off he gave her his cold stare. "What are you doing all of a sudden?" he asked very seriously.

Sasuke hated PDA and the fact that she went and did it so forcefully was just embarrassing

"Oh Sasuke like you don't know" Sakura said blushing and fluttering her eyelashes at him. "But don't worry I'll thank you properly tonight" she said trying to kiss him again.

Sasuke stopped her, having kissed her enough for one day "Thank me for what?" he said wondering what on earth she was talking about

"Always so modest all the time aren't you Sasuke" she said lovingly smiling at him

Sasuke was losing his patience- thinking that she had finally lost it he closed his eyes and said "Look Sakura if you don't want to tell me fine I won-"

"For this" she said moving her right arm up so that she could see the beautiful bracelet she had on.

Sasuke looked down at her wrist and felt his whole body turn to stone. She was wearing the garden flower bracelet adorned all around with tiny rose-cut diamonds that he bought for Hinata. Sasuke mind went blank for just a second before he had to fight the white hot rage that was threatening to come out.

"Whoa!... teme when did you give her that?" Naruto asked looking at the bracelet his eyes catching every sparkle- it looked vaguely familiar to him...like he seen it before but couldn't think of where...

"Today" Sakura answered happily winking at him

"Huh... it's really nice" he said smiling at Sakura

"Thank you" she said then turning back to Sasuke locking her arms in his she said "I love it Sasuke...she leaned forward to whisper in his ear -although I would have preferred if _you_ had given it to me instead of your maid" she said giving him a kiss on the cheek as she led him outside.

Sasuke said nothing but kept his eyes on the floor as he tried to calm down so he could get through this stupid barbecue. _That little witch! _He thought as he sat down next to Sakura on one of the outdoor tables. He felt like throwing up.. he had never met such a stubborn, sneaky, manipulative little-

"Sasuke?" Sakura whined shaking him a little so that he would look at her. Sasuke turned his head facing her forgetting where he was for a minute "Mmm" he grunted

"Some of the food is ready, what do you wanna eat?" she asked him

"I'm not hungry" he said looking away and closing his eyes, he could tell from how happy she was that it was gonna be a long time before he would get to be alone so he could think.

"Oh come on! We have so much food here, you must be a little hungry" she said kissing his cheek again

"No" he said firmly before scowling at her, hoping it would be enough so she would knock it off

"Well ok I'm gonna go help Ino out" she said hoping up and trotting to where Ino was gathering plates and napkins for everyone.

Sasuke felt his left eyebrow twitching but before he had time to collect his thoughts Shikamaru and Naruto sat down next to him.

"Hey Sasuke" Shikamaru's said yawning "Nice present... whatcha do?" he asked not really interested, just tyring to make small talk

"Hm.. nothing" Sasuke said not looking up

"Huh... it's not like you to give gifts" Shikamaru said closing his eyes leaning back against his chair.

"Sasuke probably just wanted to do something nice for Sakura" Naruto said defending him, then realizing how strange that sounded added "Er for once ..."

"Sounds like a real drag"

"I don't need a reason to do anything" Sasuke said annoyed at both of them. He noticed more and more people showing up, a lot of them he didn't know and didn't want to know. _Great... more noise_ he thought knitting his eyebrows together feeling a headache coming on.

"Well maybe you shouldn't have bought something so flashy" Shikamaru said pointing behind them

Looking around Sasuke saw Sakura surrounded by a bunch of other cheerleaders. He could hear her laughing and he saw that her arm was out, showing them the bracelet. All the other girls faces were glowing with envy and awe as they looked at it and a few were even looking over at him with longing in their eyes as they swooned and sighed.

Sasuke let his head fall on the table as he heard them all laugh and giggle.

"Aw cheer up Sasuke, I know you don't like all this attention but you made Sakura really happy-which is why you got that for her right?" Naruto said encouragingly

"Yeah..." Sasuke said after a while

This get together had turned into a small party and all Sasuke wanted to do was get out of there. Even if he wasn't pissed he probably wouldn't have enjoyed watching Naruto and Choji face off in an eating contest or listen to some random people sing when they brought out the Karaoke machine. Worst of all was Sakura...she had been parading non-stop, flashing the bracelet and telling anyone who would listen (mostly girls) how he had _supposedly _gotten it for her. She was now talking to Karin another cheerleader with red hair and glasses who would always hit on him whenever Sakura wasn't in sight.

"Yeah... it's so romantic, he just gave it to me out of the blue" Sakura said with a gloating smile as she showed the bracelet to Karen, shoving it in her face

"Wow... it's...so pretty" Karin said, jealously radiating from her as she fixed her glasses "Are those really diamonds?" she asked her biting her lip down to keep her from raging out

"Yes!" she squealed "Thank you for asking Karin, of course their real diamonds- why would Sasuke get me anything less?" she said not really expecting her to answer

"You know..." Sakura continued "This bracelet is just the beginning, in a few years I'm pretty sure I'll have a ring to match" she said waving her ring finger back and forth. Sasuke felt his teeth grit together when he heard that.

"We're practically engaged to be engaged" she said happily

That's it.

Sasuke got up and made his way towards Sakura his steps determined. This is why he never bothered to get her gifts unless it was absolutely necessary. Look how she acted! Showing off- showing _him_ off like some prize that she won. She smiled as she saw him coming in her direction.

He grabbed her by the arm a little too roughly and pulled her inside away from all the noise.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked "Did you really think I got that for you so that you could show it off like some spoiled brat" Ouch. That was a little harsh considering the fact that he was lying through his teeth. Sasuke knew he didn't have a leg to stand on since he didn't really buy that for her, but now that she had it he had to play along so she wouldn't find out the truth.

Sakura was taken back by his words but quickly recovered "Oh Sasuke don't get so upset- I'm just happy thats all" she giggling as she tried to take his hand.

Sasuke moved his hands out of her reach. "_Engaged to be Engaged?_ What was that all about?" he demanded angrily

Sakura gave him a pout as she turned a little red. She didn't think he heard that. "Well with things going so great we might as well be right" she said looking up at him hopefully

Sasuke looked at her like she was crazy- because in that moment she was. He scowled at her "**This** is why I never get you gifts at random" he said..."You can never just take it as it is can you? No! You have to put on a show and let the whole world know" coldly looking away from her.

Sakura felt hurt now- she didn't mean to make him upset... she was just well.. relieved. For months she had been worrying non stop about their relationship and this was the first time in a long time that he had shown any kind of romance, it made her feel like he was actually thinking about their future too.

"I-I'm sorry Sasuke" she said looking at him pleadingly "I wont do it again, I promise"

Sasuke looked at her with the same cold stare. "Let's go, it's getting late and I wanna get away from all this noise" he said

Sakura looked at the clock on the kitchen stove "But it's barley 10:30" she said, Ino's parents were out of town so they all stayed there late.

"Your curfews at 11:00" he reminded her and taking her arm "let's go" trying to pull her away

But Sakura wasn't like Hinata who would allow herself to be dragged where he wanted. She pulled out of his grip. "Wait- I'm saying goodbye to Ino first" she said angrily walking away before he said anything else. Moving to the sliding door he spotted Naruto among the crowd and caught his eye. They both looked at each other for a moment before Naruto got the message and nodded his head before he went back to talk with some girl.

Sasuke waited in front of Ino's house for 6 minutes before Sakura came out looking mad as they made their way to his car. The drive was silent and tense as both were upset and unwilling to talk. When they arrived in front of her house she got out without saying anything. Sasuke watched her until she was inside hearing her slam the door as she went in.

Pausing just for a minute Sasuke drove off, destination already in mind.

* * *

Sasuke parked at the end of her block deciding that she might not come out if he parked in front or that someone might see them. He grabbed his phone and wrote her a text.

**Come outside-**send.

He stared at the phone impatiently waiting for her reply

**Sasuke?** She replied

He rolled his eyes but then thought _Who else has she given this number to?_

**Who else idiot-**send.

Another minute- **I don't see you**

Sasuke's leg was bouncing up and down his patience about to blow as he wrote

**I'm on the corner where I dropped you off-**send.

Not waiting for her reply he wrote

**Now Hyuga!-**send.

A few moments later he got a response

**Okay**

Putting his phone in his pocket Sasuke got out of the car and walked to the sidewalk leaning against the front door. He never thought she would do that-it was a low blow and she had no right to... he was so mad he was shaking.

_Calm down, gotta calm down_ he thought folding his arms across his chest afraid of what he would do if he didn't. Then he saw something move up ahead and jerked his head to better focus on it. He saw a slim figure walking towards him and he knew it was her. Her hair shined even more, if possible in the moon light. She was wearing loose but slim grey sweats with some brown boots, she had on that purple and white jacket she always wore making her look frumpy. She stopped when she saw him then slowly moved forward cautiously, coming just under the street light.

Sasuke looked at her really, really hating her in that moment

"You play dirty Hyuga"

* * *

**AN: Oh WOW! I never expected to get this many reviews from that chapter. I felt like such an ass after reading all your reviews. Just to set the record straight from my last AN I am never postponing a new chapter update ever again. Thank you all so much for your support and remember the credit to this story goes to FaintFalconHunter. I would have never unofficially picked up this story if they didn't announce they were not going to continue it. It's just that when I read it I fell so in love with it that I felt it needed to be picked up again. **

**So a lot of people don't like Sasuke in this FIC and I wanna rest assured everyone by saying that Sasuke's character will develop over time like all characters do. I know everyone is anxious for the confrontation but I had this chapter already planned because a few people wanted to see Sasuke's reaction when he found out what Hinata did and how he would try and get out of it. I wrote this as fast as I could when I saw all the reviews and would have put it up faster but I had to work on my day off. I work part time so I can't really say no to my boss.. So there you guys go quick update to thank you for all the review and I'm sorry once again about the delay. I will continue this story no matter how many reviews I get and I will update as fast as I can too. Let me know what you think and like always ideas are seriously considered and welcomed..**


	7. Define Retribution

Define Retribution

Hinata didn't know how she was still standing. Her legs were shaking uncontrollably from Sasuke's stabbing glare that held no mercy. Why did she come outside? Why didn't she ignore the text? She should have just kept watching Anya explore and fall in love in Rome...or at least tell Neji so he would know who was responsible when she turned up missing and her body found in the woods.

"S-Sasuke w-what are you doing her-

"Don't act stupid! You know why I'm here!" Sasuke growled, his voice full of acid

Hinata tried to take a deep breath when she realized she wasn't breathing...she couldn't afford to faint, not in the middle of the night with only Sasuke and his car. She saw images of her being thrown in a ditch or tied up inside his trunk as she tried to speak again.

"N-No Sasuke I-I don-

"WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM HYUGA?" Sasuke yelled not caring who would hear

Hinata flinched, trembling from head to toe. _Iv'e never seen him like this before...I don't know how to handle this_ she thought. Hinata spread her feet a little to better her stance, she had imagined that Sasuke would be upset when he found out she gave the bracelet to Sakura but she didn't think he would be **this** angry. She hoped she wouldn't have to defend herself, but if she did she would do her best to restrain him and the first chance she got she would run back inside. Hinata grabbed one arm behind her back and wondered if she could take him.

Sasuke played soccer and was known for his speed, plus he also had the advantage in weight and height. Hinata gulped down her fears as she reminded herself that she hadn't been trained in taijustsu and the Hyuga martial arts since she was three for nothing...as soon as she thought she was in real danger she would switch to the full Hyuga stance.

"I-I...

"Why the hell would you give the bracelet to Sakura! I got that for you, not her!" he yelled but not as loudly as before

"I-I tried to tell you I wouldn't kee-

"Do you have any idea what you did? Because of you Sakura is going on and on about that thing and how she thinks it's some stupid symbol of us being together forever!" he growled hoping looks could kill her as eyed her evilly.

Hinata took another deep breath as she spoke " I told you I wouldn't keep it, a-and it's not my fault the way Sakura i-is acting" her voice was small as she tried to sound assertive but she was too scared at the moment

"Yeah it is all your fault! Why the hell couldn't you just take it? Anyone else with half a brain would have been glad to get a bracelet like that! Sasuke yelled

Hinata's eyes narrowed and she forgot all about her fear "It's not my fault you don't know how to listen...I told you at least 5 times I wasn't going to keep that and I never asked you for it in the first place, so you've got no one to blame but yourself! She yelled back although not as loudly

Sasuke took a step toward her "What did you say?" he hissed

Hinata hesitated a little but looked straight into his eyes and said with determination "I said I never wanted that from you and there's no way I would ever accept anything from _**you**_...I don't even know why you got that for me in the first place...

Sasuke growled. Why did he get her the bracelet? Well, he figured that she had never been to that mall before and knowing the type of person she was he thought a gift from him would make her feel more obligated to do whatever he wanted. And well...he saw the look in her eyes when she saw it...like she had never seen anything so beautiful before, he knew she had to have it. But he never thought for a second that she would refuse it or give it away when he wouldn't take it back

When he didn't respond Hinata took it as a sign to keep going "L-Look Sasuke- S-Sakura is your girlfriend, she's the one you should be getting gifts for not me" she said

Sasuke looked at her "Oh and who are you to tell me how to treat my girlfriend?" he said yelling again

"T-The girl who knows that your a real jerk if this is how you are with her! She shouldn't be lied to and treated this way and you don't deserve her" Hinata yelled back in his face

Sasuke actually grinned when her heard that " Heh, now I get it...what? You think you would be better instead of her? He asked cockily

Hinata turned red but didn't falter under his words "D-Don't flatter yourself"she said looking away

Sasuke frowned, going back to his death stare " That was a dirty move you pulled Hyuga and now you need to fix it" he said leaning back against his car

Hinata looked at him again not believing what she was hearing "_F-Fix it?"_she gasped... "Why should I fix anything? As far as I'm concerned nothings wrong"

Sasuke felt his hands shake again " You think nothings wrong?" he said trying really hard not to scream

"N-No I-I don't" she said as firmly as she could "W-What do you expect me to do? Try and take it back?"

Sasuke stood there, frustrated. He couldn't make Hinata do anything that wouldn't reveal that he had given her the bracelet instead of Sakura and then his problems would only escalate from there...Sakura would be pissed and might break up with him or worse stay with him and be an ultra annoying, jealous new addition to the blob. Did he really care if they broke up?...well he...Ahh! If anything other people might find out, like that cousin of hers and then she wouldn't be his maid anymore. He couldn't have that, not when he was just starting to have fun. He was in a lose, lose situation... the only thing he could do was make sure she suffered in the most painful way.

"Tsk... your gonna pay for this Hyuga" he said angrily

"T-There's nothing you can do to me that wont reach Sakura and when she ask what I did to make you do something to me...I-I'll tell her the truth! And not just about the bracelet but about that slutty outfit you make me wear and what happened in the library too! Hinata stammered, turning so red she looked like a glow stick standing on the sidewalk

They both looked each other, neither one breaking eye contact until Hinata turned around and said "Have a g-good night Sasuke" running back to her house

**Hinata Hyuga: 2 Sasuke Uchiha: 0**

* * *

Sasuke stood against his car as he watched her disappear into the darkness, angrier than he had ever felt before. _So that's how she's gonna play this huh _he thought as he got inside. He took a few breaths to try and calm himself down, even though it was the dead of night driving angry wasn't going to help his situation. He needed to think and come up with a plan.. Ghaaa! Sitting here was getting him no where, he started the car and drove home.

Sasuke was turning the keys to the front door muttering to himself when the light turned on by themselves. Sasuke looked up and his body went stiff when he saw who it was..

"Oh...Father...I didn't know you were coming home today" he said quietly

Fugaku Uchiha stood in front of him, still fully dressed- minus the suit jacket with his arms across his chest and an angry look on his face as Sasuke closed the door

"Where the hell have you been boy?" he said quietly but in an angry tone non-the less.

Sasuke looked at his father with a neutral expression trying not to reveal his embarrassment of being caught coming in so late "I was with Naruto at a friends house" he said respectfully

"Really? Do you want to explain to me why you were out and then coming home at midnight when you know you're suppose to come straight home when I'm away on business?" Fugaku said his voice become angrier as he looked down at his youngest son

Sasuke looked at the floor before he spoke again "She said it was fine if I went out and-

"Of course thats what she said! But what I want to know, is why would you even ask if you could leave when you know your mother needs you here in case anything happens!" his father spat, careful to keep his voice down so he wouldn't wake his wife

Sasuke said nothing for a minute. "She's been feeling better lately, and when she came back from the doctor's 2 days ago he said there shouldn't be anything to worry abou-

"I don't care what he said, if I'm not here you are! Do you hear me?" Fugaku said not yelling but his voice rising a little

Sasuke stood there, then bowed his head "Yes Father" looking at the floor. Sasuke moved to go upstairs but his father spoke again

"I'm not done" he said

Sasuke turned around, his father looked at him before showing him a bottle of prescription pills.

"What's this?" Fugaku asked

Sasuke recognized the pills and remained silent knowing what was coming next.

"Why haven't you been taking your medication?"

Sasuke looked at the floor again before answering "I haven't been needing it as much lately"

"You got a refill two weeks ago and the bottle is almost full" Fugaku said his voice full of impatience that only a parent could have with their child.

"I know" Sasuke said

"I didn't get your doctor to give you a stronger dose just so you wouldn't take them"

"Yes Sir"

Fugaku sighed before he put the bottle in Sasuke hands. "Take your medication or I'll take it away all together"

Sasuke nodded not saying anything

Fugaku continued to look down on his son before closing his eyes knitting them together. "Go to bed, I'll deal with you in the morning" he said his voice tired

Sasuke went upstairs and into his room. He sat in his bed for a long time before opened the bottle and pooped a pill in his mouth, setting it down on his night stand. He laid down on his bed looking up at the ceiling realizing it was the only part of his room that wasn't painted black.

He turned to his side to stare at the black wall. His thoughts went back to Hinata..he couldn't think of a way to get back at her that wouldn't cause him to much trouble. The fact that she tried to blackmail him was laughable...didn't she know that the information she had was a double edge sword. Sakura wasn't a real big concern to him, he knew she would forgive him maybe not right away but eventually she would. But... all her anger would be taken out on Hinata, not to mention all his other fangirls too once they heard about it.

That didn't sit well with Sasuke. Sure, it seemed like fun to let Sakura and his fangirls torture Hinata but then what would be left for him to do?...no... he wanted to be the one to break her and no one else. Grumbling Sasuke stood up and went to his window, opening the curtains and looking out.

There was no getting around it. Sakura was gonna keep the bracelet but there was no way he could let Hinata away with , he had already planned on making the next couple of days hell for her by giving her impossible task that would be stress her out like crazy but it didn't feel like enough. He needed to hit her where it hurt the most...he looked up and saw the moon, it was barely visible with the month just beginning...then something clicked in his brain. _Yes..._he thought smiling to himself..._he could do __**that**__..._

* * *

**AN: So I put up this short chapter because my computer charger has been acting funny and it MAY be a while before I get to put another chapter estimated time till I get my new charger on Friday- one week. I wanted to leave you guys with something instead of nothing for a long time. Remember I said maybe... So what do you guys think? I wanted to get a little more details about Sasuke's mysterious life...I hope it made you guys curious.**

**For those who are a little confused about the time frame of this story I understand. I had to keep re-reading the first part in order to get the timing correct and I mentioned it back in the Tsubaki chapter. This chapter will have officially been the first week as Sasuke's maid. The next chapter will be the 8th day just to clarify. Hinata has 3 weeks and 2 more days to go and A LOT can happen in between that time I may extend the story after a month if I feel I'm dragging the month out too long so just stay tuned.**

**I want to make a few things clear to everyone. 1. Sasuke would never physically hurt Hinata, he's trying to crush her spirit not her face, 2. Hinata can't quit being his maid. Go back to the first part by FaintFalconHunter and you will read how she is under contract that she signed when she agreed to be part of the auction. Oh someone asked me this a while back and no I can't delete any of the reviews that I get, I never would anyway-I appreciate all reviews good or bad.**

**So thats it for now! I know cliff hangers suck but there is so much more to come! Please review and any ideas or suggestions would be awesome :)**


	8. The Dark Moon

The Dark Moon

Hinata was walking in school with Tenten the next day. She didn't get much sleep last night and had been nervous all day. She kept thinking about what Sasuke had said "_Tsk your gonna pay for this Hyuga"..._Hinata clamped her hands on the books she was carrying, looking down on the floor and wondering what the consequences of her actions were going to be. She still didn't think it was fair of Sasuke to be mad at her when he was the one who was wrong for trying to push a gift on her that she _**politely **_tried to refuse.

_I was pretty rude last night though... maybe I should at least apologize for that..._Hinata thought, although she knew it wouldn't stop him from making her life Hell for the rest of the month. She knew she had no choice but to endure it for the time being. She turned her attention back to Tenten who was going on about a upperclassmen named Hiro she had finally agreed to go out with.

"Let me tell you one thing right now Hinata, never go out with a high schooler. All the boys here are stupid, shallow and complete animals" Tenten said angrily as she strode through the halls bumping into a few freshman not bothering to apologize.

Hinata gave her a sympathetic smile "So I take it the date didn't go well last night"

"Hmp! Didn't go well is an understatement...He didn't ask me one single question about myself, no, I was treated to over 'A Thousand Tales of Hiro the Great' all night and he was completely inconsiderate of what I wanted to do" she said narrowing her eyes at anyone who dared to look at her. "He picked where we ate and what movie we saw- like he didn't he even think to ask for my opinion" she said coming to a stop by their lockers

"Did you want to do something different Tenten?" Hinata asked carefully, not wanting to get her more upset

"No not really, but that isn't the point! A boy should never try and control the entire date like the girl has no say in it..." Tenten said pouting and folding her arms across her body.

"M-Maybe he was doing it to impress you Tenten, you can be a bit _intimidating_ sometimes..." Hinata said putting her books down and grabbing a brown paper bag.

"Yeah well, I don't need a guy acting like some macho pig just so he can impress me, he should just be a gentleman instead of trying to boost his ego" she said trying not to seem too pleased with herself. "Anyway the date ended early and I left his creepy ass at the movie theater" she finished with a bored look on her face

"Eh? Why?" Hinata asked wondering what Hiro could have done to make Tenten just leave like that

"Ugh! Hinata I repeat NEVER date a high school boy, as soon as the movie started he tried to put his hand up my skirt and cop a feel" she said

Hinata gasped drooping the bag as her hands flew to her mouth, if it were anyone else Hinata would have been worried but this was Tenten talking and well...

"Wh-What did you do?" she asked afraid for Hiro

"Tsk what do you think I did Hinata? I sent him flying across the theater, punching his lights out...then I was escorted out by security" Tenten said with a satisfied grin

"Was Hiro alright? Hinata asked

"Oh who cares about him Hinata? He was a total sleaze and deserved a lot worse" Tenten said pumping her fist

"I-If you say so Tenten" Hinata said picking up the bag from the floor

Tenten looked at the bag for a second and then she smiled "Oh today's the day right?"

"Hmm" Hinata nodded smiling back at her

Inside the paper bag were some flowers that Hinata had picked on her way to school. There was a nice garden on the way over and Hinata usually helped herself most mornings because she knew it didn't really belong to anyone although she often wondered who kept it so nice. Hinata had collected a wide assortment of red and purple flowers today and some leafs too all in order to finish her signature art project.

One of Hinata's favorite classes was art and a few months ago Kurenai Sensei had seen Hinata create a small pressed flower art picture after school and had asked her to create a side project for extra credit. Hinata had only thought of her pressed flower art as nothing more than a hobby and had never taken it seriously before. But when Kurenai Sensei had asked her to try and create an abstract using the flowers she couldn't help but get excited about it. So after months of pressing flowers today was the day she was finally going to finish. She said goodbye to Tenten and quickly made her way to the art room.

Another thing she loved about art is that she had it with Naruto but not Sasuke. Something she never really noticed before but today had her feeling very relieved. She had done her best to avoid Sasuke all day even though she felt his glare on her. She hadn't got any messages from him and took it as bad sign. The worst thing was the waiting and not knowing what he was going to do and when. This unknown fear was killing her so getting away from him for the next hour was a really comforting.

When Hinata entered the art room she saw Kiba and Shino talking to Kurenai Sensei. The art room was beautiful. The whole right side of the room had huge windows that let the students have a nice view of the school garden- it got a little chilly during the winter but since it was spring they got in a lot of natural light giving the room a real serene vibe. And instead of desk each student got to sit in front of a small drawing table so they can work individually or in groups.

"Oh hello Hinata, how are you" Kurenai Sensei asked

"I'm fine Sensei" Hinata said smiling clasping her hands together with the bag as best as she could

"Are those the last of them? You finish your project today right?" Kurenai said smiling

"Yeah, after this it should be done" she said stepping next to Kiba

"All right then, lets get it out so you can get started" leading them to the back to a private room where Kurenai kept her advanced students art room was fairly small but it also had big window with a nice side view of the garden and Kurenai let Hinata work in here alone during class time and sometimes after school, so she could work on her project without any distractions.

Turning the key Kurenai flicked on the light and let them in "Here it is" she said spreading her arms to display Hinata's piece. On a folding table was a 27x36 canvas of a beautiful painting of a full moon reflecting on a lake, surrounded by a foreground of flowers, fireflies, and a few tree branches. Hinata had created the whole thing with various colors of flowers and leaves she found on her daily walks to school, work and home.

It had taken her so long to finish because of her precise attention to detail. Using a combination of airbrush paint and the millions of flowers and leafs, she created something truly magnificent. If anyone were to look at it very closely they would see that the painting was really a barrage of colors with little space being one pure color...Hinata's had painted and pressed colors over false ones, making blue flowers show bits of black that could be seen darker in the shadow of the flowers and lighter in the reflection of the moonlight on the water. She collided green paint with yellow and golden flowers to create the fireflies and the moons golden glow in the night sky and in the reflection of the lake. To sum it all up it was an abstract blend of paint and pressed flowers but unless you looked at it closely it simply looked like a wonderful painting.

Hinata smiled to herself, feeling very proud...this was by far her best accomplishment ever or soon to be accomplishment since technically it wasn't finished in Hinata's eyes.

"This is truly a masterpiece Hinata" Kurenai Sensei said sighing happily as she looked at Hinata who returned the compliment with a warm smile

"With this as part of your portfolio you should be able to get in to any college of your choice Hinata" Shino said looking at the canvas

"Thank you Shino" Hinata said blushing

"Where do you plan on putting this thing Sensei" Kiba asked looking at Kurenai

"Well I was thinking the lobby near the entrance, so that the student's can see it whenever they come in or leave the building... at least for a while" she said, then catching Hinata's expression she added "Don't worry Hinata, I won't put your name next to it although I don't know why you wont let me"

"I-I just don't wanna make a big deal out of it" Hinata said blushing even more

"Why not? You should make a big deal out of it Hinata! This is really awesome and you worked your butt off for months, this is no time to be shy" Kiba said loudly

Hinata looked at the floor feeling more embarrassed "I-I know t-that, it's just I-I don't like all the attenti-

"Hey what's going on in here?" suddenly Naruto appeared in the room and looking around- _he must of __heard Kiba _Hinata thought panicking a little.

Naruto had never been in this room before and certainly not when Hinata was working in here. She doubt she would have been able to finish this project if he was in the same room as her, she would probably be passed out half the time...

"N-Naruto" Hinata said nervously not quite meeting his eye. Tomorrow was Friday- their "date"(even though Hinata knew it was just a study session). She was already getting butterflies just thinking about it and here he was so close to her

"Hey Hinata" he grinned giving her a casual wave, "Kiba, Shino" he said nodding to her two best friends who he got along with pretty well

"Hey idiot" Kiba replied while Shino said nothing, returning the nod

Naruto looked around and then his eyes fell on the canvas, his eyes widening "W-Wow, that's amazing" he turned to Kurenai "Did you make that Sensei?" he asked

Kuernai smiled and said "Nope this work of art belongs to Hinata"

Naruto turned to Hinata his blue eyes full of awe "Really? Hinata you made that!" he said impressed

Hinata felt herself becoming overwhelmed by the heat from her blushing face. Not sure if her voice would work properly she simply nodded.

"I never knew your were such an artist Hinata" Naruto said stepping forward so that he was in front of the canvas on the long folded table "It's so colorful"...

"T-Thank you N-Naruto" she said quietly feeling flushed

"Are you done with it" he asked his eyes still on the painting

"Umm...almost... I'm finishing the rest today" she said shyly opening the paper bag and pulling out a purple flower

"Huh... it looks done to me" he said still looking at it

"That's because you don't have an eye for art" Shino said calmly

"Whatever Shino" he said turning his head to look at him and then to Hinata "It's nice Hinata, your really talent- WHOA...Ahh! Naruto had tried to turn his heal to walk towards Hinata but had lost his footing and had fallen backwards bumping into the table, causing it to collide with the cabinet next to it.

What happened next all seemed like slow motion to Hinata...all she could do was watch as the cabinet shook slightly, but enough to make a can of paint sitting on top tip over and fall on the table, spilling black paint all over her full moon pressed flower painting.

* * *

Hinata had both her hands over her mouth, her eyes full of horror as she looked at her canvas now covered and splattered in black paint. She couldn't stop the tears from coming even if she wanted to, they just poured down her face without her even trying to stop them. Hinata didn't pay attention when Kurenai told Naruto to report to the principals office while Shino struggled to hold Kiba from trying to kill him. Her mind went completely blank and the rest of her day was made up of short hazy blurs. She vaguely remembered Kurenai trying to comfort her and lunch with Neji and Tenten as Kiba and Shino told them what happened. It was a mystery how she got to the rest of her classes.

The sound of the bell finally brought her out of her daze

"Hinata...are you ok"

"Eh" she said jumping in her seat a little, Kiba was looking at her worried

"Oh y-yeah" she said even though she felt a tear slide down her cheek

"Hey, hey don't cry" he said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, giving her a squeeze

"I-I'm sorry Kiba- I'm just...I worked so hard...for months and now it's ruined"...she said with a small hiccup wiping away her tears

"Grrr I swear I'm gonna kill Naruto when I see him!"

"I'm angry as well but going after Naruto right now would be a unwise and careless...Why? Because it would only lead to us getting detention or suspended...no it would be better to settle this later- **Off** School property" Shino said

Hinata jumped up from her seat, looking at both of them in shock "No no no no! You guys have to promise me you wont do anything to Naruto- it was an accident! He didn't do it on purpose" she said turning her head sadly

"Are you kidding me? Come on Hinata, that idiot ruined your painting" Kiba barked looking at her in disbelief and anger

"I agree Hinata" Shino said

But Hinata just shook her head "P-Please for me, don't do anything to hurt Naruto" blushing even though she was upset. When neither of them said anything Hinata spoke again "C'mon l-lets go already" she said grabbing her bag and walking to the door but just as they were making their way to the exit Hinata felt a vibration in her bag. Hinata groaned knowing what that meant, she reached inside and took out her phone unlocking the screen to read the text she got

**I'm in the Library**

Hinata stopped walking "Sorry guys, I have to go to the library"

"When did you get this?" Kiba asked taking the phone from her and looking at it

"It's Sasuke's...he gave it to me so he can call me whenever he needs something" she said

"That's going a little far, even if you are his maid" Shino said

Hinata just shrugged and took the phone back from Kiba "I'll see you guys later" she said turning around and heading for the library.

Each step she took filled Hinata with dread...she really didn't want to deal with Sasuke right now and whatever punishment he had for her. All she wanted to do was finish her shift at work and go home so she can mourn for her beautiful painting alone. She knocked into a couple chairs and a desk in the library not really looking where she was going. She turned the corner of a bookshelf on the South end and saw Sasuke sitting in a table waiting for her

"Finally...what took you so long?" Sasuke said

Hinata didn't say anything but took a seat across from him. "What do you want Sasuke?" she said grimly hoping to get this over with

He frowned at her, then said "What's wrong with you?"

"N-Nothing" she said looking down at her hands

"Hnn...I have an essay that Iv'e been putting off for Ibiki and I need you to get it done..." he said

Hinata had Ibiki too, he taught advanced physics...WAIT A MINUTE did he mean...

"Sasuke a-are you talking about the 15 page paper he gave us 3 weeks?" she asked trying to keep her voice steady

Sasuke nodded, smirking at her

"WHAT!" Hinata said quickly standing up. This was beyond unfair. She had just finished that essay herself two days ago! How the Hell was she gonna write 15 pages worth of new information overnight? Hinata was about to open her mouth in protest but then changed her mind feeling too down to even try to fight back knowing that it was useless anyway.

"Fine" she said sadly _This must be his way of punishing me _she thought as she slumped back down in her seat.

Sasuke watched her still smirking "I heard what happened..."

Hinata looked up "What do you mean?"

"Naruto" he simply said, his eyes full of …..._something_

_Oh...Naruto must have told him_...she thought staring down at the table

"From what that Baka told me it sounded like a pretty impressive piece"

Hinata stayed quiet, her head down as she felt her eyes begin to tear up, she was trying her best to stop them not wanting to cry in front of him again

"It's a real shame...all your hard work gone..." he said mockingly

"P-Please don't...don't say anything else" she said, fighting a losing battle against her tears

Sasuke licked his lips when he saw a tear run down her cheek "Well I guess it's just something else that can't be **fixed**, eh Hyuga"

Hinata's head snapped up at him, her eyes wide "What?"

Sasuke shrugged "I'm just saying you should be more careful with things that you can't fix, you never know how it can come back to haunt you" he said as he got up flinging his backpack over his shoulder

A small smile spread to his face when he saw her looking at him shocked and maybe just a little...scared?

"I expect an A and nothing less, make sure you list all your credentials and try to make it sound like me, we don't want Ibiki to know that I didn't actually write it" he said as he turned and began to walk away but before he turned around the corner of the book shelf he looked back at her still sitting on the table

"Hey, try no to be too upset about it... think of it as something to reflect on" he said with a little laugh leaving Hinata alone.

Hinata felt her hands trembling

_No...no way...Sasuke couldn't have...there's no way..._

**Sasuke Uchiha: 1 Hinata Hyuga: 2**

* * *

Hinata was walking home from work when she stopped by a convenient store. It was pretty small and the women behind the counter smiled at her when she came in and Hinata tried her best to return it.

Hinata looked through the candy aisle but didn't really feel like gorging herself full of sweets even though her tears came every five minutes. She walked down to the soft drinks and found what she was looking for-energy drinks. Hinata hated coffee with a passion and since she would be up all night writing Sasuke's paper she figured she would need some help staying awake.

Hinata eyed all the different brands unsure of which one to get. Her eyes lost focus as her mind began to wander... _Could Sasuke have had anything to do with what happened to my painting today? _she thought. She picked up a blue and yellow can holding it in front of her

_No he wasn't even there _shaking her head putting it back _and the door was locked...he couldn't have...could he?_

"Can't decide" a deep voice said behind her making Hinata jump. Twirling around she met a pair of beautiful green eyes with black rings

"Oh y-yeah, s-sorry" she said stepping to the side so he could choose

Looking closer Hinata saw that this person was about the same age as her and only a little taller, his uniform was different too. She saw that he had fair skin although not as pale as her's and short spiky dark auburn hair. On the left side of his forehead she saw a kanji tattoo 'love' the same color as his hair. Hinata felt herself blush more and more as she took in each of his features

_This guy is so...cool _she thought to herself, then she noticed he was watching her stare at him. She looked back to the soft drinks feeling like a complete idiot.

Hinata was about to pick a random drink and go when she saw him grab a green and white can extending it out to her. "Try this one, it has a nice flavor to it and wont leave you as jittery as the rest of them here" he said in a quiet but strong monotone voice, that made Hinata's heart race a little

"O-Ok" she said with a small smile blushing again

She saw his eye give the smallest twitch before going back to his neutral expression

"Thank you um-"

"Garra Subaku" he said as she took the drink from him

"Thank you Garra, I'm Hinata...Hinata Hyuga"

"Nice to meet you Hinata"

Hinata saw where he had gotten the drink from and decided to grab two for good measure. Garra stared at her "Rough night ahead?" he asked

Hinata nodded "Yeah I have a paper to write and I'll probably won't be getting any sleep" she said making her way to the counter so she could pay

"I see, how long is it?" Garra asked opening the door for her after they bought their stuff

"15 pages" she sighed

"What topic?"

"Physics. The origin of physics, the founding fathers of physics, how far we've come in the field of science and what physics can bring to the future...that sort of thing" she said with a shrug

"When is it due"

"T-Tomorrow" she said looking at her feet

"And your barely starting it now?" he said

"I-It's not what you think, I-I've just been really b-busy" she said embarrassed knowing that this was all Sasuke's fault.

"Hmm, that's too bad...if you had more time I would have been able to help you" he said turning his head sideways to look at her

Hinata blushed and smiled, looking down again. They had reached the end of the street.

"Well my house is this way" she said pointing to her right

Garra nodded turning in the other direction "I hope to see you around Hinata" he said walking away

Hinata watched his retreating back for a minute before turning around, quickly walking home.

* * *

As soon as Hinata opened the door she called "I'm home" taking off her shoes and hanging up her jacket. Hanabi came from the living room giving her a hug.

"What's for dinner?" Hanabi asked as she stepped back

Hinata frowned at her, annoyed. "Not even a hi, Hanabi?"

"Hey Sis...what's for dinner?" she asked again smiling

"You won't be getting any" Hinata said moving to the kitchen and putting the drinks in the fridge

"Oh come on don't be like that" Hanabi said following her "Why did you get those?"

"I have a lot of homework tonight and I need caffeine to do it" Hinata said reaching for the pots and pans so she could get started on dinner

"Oh ok" her face brightened as she saw that Hinata was going to cook "I'll leave you alon-

"No"

"What?" she asked wondering if she did something wrong

"Your going to stay and help me" Hinata said turning the stove on and boiling some water

"Why?" Hanabi asked, as if appalled by the idea

"One so it can get done faster and two you need to start learning how to cook already" Hinata said looking at her little sister with her hands on her hips

Hanabi pouted but didn't say anything

Hinata nodded "Good, now start slicing these onions"

* * *

After their dinner of onion soup and Sukiyaki Beef with rice Hinata was finally in her room alone. She grumbled as she opened her laptop thinking of the essay she had to write. On her bed she searched in her bag for her physics book when she pulled out the paper bag full of the flowers she collected this morning.

All day Hinata had been fighting the urge to break down and cry over the loss of her painting and she had momentarily forgotten thanks to Sasuke's sudden request but now she was alone and she remembered. Her whole body began shaking as she cried. She thought about all the time she spent gathering flowers around various gardens to complete her collection, about all the hours of pressing and gluing them to the canvas, how she blended colors of paint to create the image of a moonlight night she got inspired by from watching 'A Midnight Summer's Dream', she cried even more when she remembered...how much fun she had making it.

Hinata cried and cried not wanting to stop the tears. She sank into her bed crying in her pillow feeling the effect of holding it in all day and then releasing it all at once...her head began to ache and everything started to go black as she felt her eyelids close and her mind drift off to sleep...

Hinata felt her body shift but kept her eyes still closed. She didn't want to open them and have to wake up... then she heard something

_That noise...did someone come in my room? _she thought still not opening her eyes

**Tap...Tap...Tap**

_Someone is in here but I don't wanna get up_

**Tap...**

_It's probably Hanabi..._

Hinata waited for the squeal and scream of her sister's voice but it never came

_Eh?_

Hinata felt a light cool breeze on her face

_Something is..._

_Falling?..._

* * *

**AN: I'm back baby! Man, I was without access to my laptop for 4 whole days! I was so shocked when I saw almost 100 reviews. WOW let me just say you guys are amazing and I hope this chapter satisfies the long wait I put you guys through. So what do you guys think? Did you see that coming? I know the question your all probably going to ask and yes the answer will be revealed in the next chapter (which I am already writing) I promise. To answer a few questions (but not really) the secret of Sasukes mother and himself will be revealed in time and yes Itachi is coming soon and he will play a big role in this story. That all I'm saying! Until next time, please review and if you have any suggestion let me know and they will be seriously considered. **


	9. A Gentle Soul, A Demons Laughter

_*Eh?_

_Hinata felt a light cool breeze on her face_

_Something is..._

_Falling?..._

A Gentle Soul, A Demons Laughter

Hinata opened her eyes as something light and soft fell on her face and she had to blink twice to believe what she was seeing.

A barrage of pink flower petals was fluttering all around her. They came down slowly and quietly brushing against her cheeks and falling over her eyes. The petals twirled in the air before they fell, landing in her hair that was spread out over her pillow, looking like a river flowing with fallen flowers.

_What is this?_

Hinata turned her head slightly to the right to see Neji standing over her, his arms spread out in front of her as he slowly sprinkled flower petals over her- his face in a slight frown as always but when he saw that she was awake his eyes became sad as he saw her begin to tear up.

_Neji?..._

Hinata slowly sat up after the last petal fell and Neji lowered his arms

*"I'm sorry about your painting Hinata, truly I am...please accept my gift as an expression of my sympathy" Neji said turning his head to the left.

Hinata turned too and gasped when she saw a full bouquet of pink and fuschia peonies in a white vase on her desk. Peonies were her favorite flowers. Looking down at herself she saw that the petals he threw on her were also peonies. She picked up a small bud and played with it between her fingers before she looked at him.

"Neji h-how did you, when did you..."

"I got them after my taijutsu session ended...I would of been here for dinner and given them to you then but my student council meeting ran late and Guy Sensei made me run 100 suicide laps around the dojo for my tardiness so it took me a while, please forgive me" Neji said sitting down next to her

_So that's where he was _Hinata thought spinning the small bud, recalling his absence and wondering why he wasn't there- but peonies weren't exactly cheap...

"B-But Neji how did you afford all this?" she asked looking at him

Neji looked at her for a moment before he said "I used my New Years gift money"

Hinatas eyes widened "But Neji you were saving that money for your trip to Kyoto this summer with Lee and Tenten!"

Neji shrugged and closed his eyes "It's no big deal, besides I need to keep my priorities straight if I'm going to take the college exams soon...the trip was right before the exam so I'll use the time to study"

Neji was 17 years old and a senior in high school and his class didn't graduate until winter but he was such a well rounded genius that all his teachers had given him a recommendation to take the early entrance exams for college. Tokyo University was one of the best schools in the world, they only accepted the best of the best and was Neji's first choice school.

Neji opened his eyes, seeing the guilt on her face he grabbed her hand giving it a squeeze. "Don't concern yourself about it Hinata, I **wanted** to do this for you after I heard what happened" he said cupping her face

Hinata smiled at him as a tear fell down her face. Neji wiped it away with his thumb giving her a small smile in return, then his eyes narrowed as he looked down "I'm going to kill Naruto when I see him" he said

Hinata grabbed his hand "Neji it was an accident" she said in the sweetest voice she could manage hoping it would be enough to reason with him.

"Accident or not he ruined your chances of getting into Tokyo University next year!" he said wondering why she wasn't as upset as he was

Hinata sighed. Neji wanted Hinata to take an early entrance exam next year and join him at Tokyo University. He didn't like the thought of her going to school somewhere he couldn't look our for her and see her on a daily basis. He knew that she had the brains to get in but he thought that with her Full Moon pressed flower art painting as part of her application her acceptance would be guaranteed. But Hinata didn't exactly _want_ to go to college early and actually had other plans in mind...

"Neji please listen to me when I say **it's fine,** I can make another painting for my portfolio" she said

"Yes but it won't be the same as that one" he said

_Don't remind me_ Hinata thought sadly

Neji let go of his hands and wrapped them around her shoulders pulling her into a close hug, one hand stroking her beautiful hair causing a few petals to fall off. He murmured her name over and over again before he kissed the top of her head.

"Your too **nice** Hinata, this is why people walk all over you" he stressed "Naruto destroyed something precious to you and deserves what's coming to him, you need to get angry here" he said shaking her shoulders a little.

Hinata gave him a sad smiled "Neji you know I don't care if other people pick on me" then she put her hands on her hips "And I don't let them walk all over me" she said in mock anger

The corner of Neji's mouth twitched before he regained his somber expression "Yes, you do...when was the last time you said no to someone?" he asked

Hinata bit her lip as she tried to come up with an answer. She had nothing. "I-I don't keep track of things like that"

Neji sighed slowly "I won't always be here like this for you, ya know..." he said

Hinata looked at him in shock for a second before she smiled snuggling close to him, wrapping herself around his arm, her head resting on his shoulder "Oh yes you will" she said looking at him

Neji frowned at her before giving in, chuckling at her cute face "Ha ha...Do you want to study for the test tomorrow, I heard Ebiso is going to have us debate each other in French and grade us based on our diction and fluency"

Hinata was going to say yes but then she remembered Sasuke's paper, she stood up quickly spilling flower petals on the floor.

"Ahh! What time is it?" she asked

"It's 8:15 why?"

Oh good, she exhaled in relief. She had only fell asleep for 20 minutes. "N-Nothing it's just I-I have this paper I need to finish by tomorrow b-but I'll be fine for tomorrows test, I-I also studied last night like you so I should be o-ok" she said not looking at him

Neji raised an eyebrow, it was unlike her to put off an assignment and couldn't tell if she was stuttering because she was lying or feeling guilty. Well, he would find out sooner or later and figured he should probably just leave her alone for now.

"All right but if you want to study later just come to my ro-

Hinata hugged him before he could finish, pressing her soft body tightly against his, making him blush in surprise.

"Thank you for the gift Neji-niisan" she whispered looking up at him and blushing a little too, making him blush even more.

"Er, your welcome Hinata" he said feeling a little embarrassed

Hinata giggled a little as she moved down the stairs so she could get the energy drinks from the kitchen

Everyone always said that Neji came off as a cold, no-nonsense stick in the mud but she knew that if people got to know him they would see that he was hard working and mature, who usually got along well with others.

_And _she thought pulling out a petal that was tangled in her hair _he has a very kind heart..._

* * *

_Meanwhile..._

Sasuke was at home in the family study trying to decide if he wanted Brandy or Scotch. Today had been a good day and he really wanted to top it off with a smooth drink, plus he turned around looking at Naruto in one of the love seats- his friend could use a drink.

Not wanting to over think things Sasuke settled on Scotch. He picked the lock on his fathers liquor cabinet and grabbed the most expensive bottle and two glasses. Sasuke usually drank alone and drowned any bottle within 2-3 days, his Mother and Father knew he drank their liquor but never said anything to him about it. Whenever Sasuke finished a bottle a new one would show up a few days later, he figured they either ignored it or thought it was better that he was drinking in the house. Either way it worked out for Sasuke.

After he poured the drinks he sat in the love seat next to Naruto "Here" he said handing him a glass

"Thanks" Naruto muttered, sniffing the Scotch and making a face "Um are you sure it's ok to be drinking your dad's Scotch?" he asked watching Sasuke drink half of it in one go

"Ahh...I told you don't worry about it" he said swirling his drink

Naruto shrugged and took a sip, feeling the bitter taste and burning sensation down his throat "Ugh...ahh!"

"It's an acquired taste so just nurse it for now and then you'll start to like the flavor" Sasuke said

"Mmm" Naruto grunted bringing the glass back to his lips

They sat there in silence for a while before Sasuke spoke "So tell me again how it happened"

Naruto hung his head, elbows on his knees "I'm an idiot" he said

"Yeah I know that, I'm asking you how it happened" Sasuke said in a bored voice- although he was _extremely_ pleased

"Haa...I don't know how it happened...one minute I was looking at Hinata's painting and I tried to turn around to talk to her, the next thing I know I slip on the floor, hitting the table and knocking a can of paint all over it" he said turning red and taking a swing of his drink, finishing it. His eyes began to water as he felt his throat and whole stomach burn

Sasuke followed his lead and filled their glasses again trying not to laugh. "Then what happened?" he asked

"Kurenai Sensei sent me to the office where Granny Tsunade yelled at me for almost an hour" he said sipping his drink

"How was Hinata?" Sasuke asked trying to seem like he really didn't care

Naruto sighed "Man I wanna punch myself in the face every time I think about it!" guilt swelling in his chest "Ive never seen her so sad" he said miserably

Sasuke's felt his fingers twitch and had to clear his throat before he spoke again "Was she crying?"

"Yeah, she was crying" Naruto said quietly

"Like how? Was she sobbing or..." Sasuke asked trying to get more details

"Huh? No I...I don't know, what do they call them...um silent tears? Anyway, she was just standing there like she couldn't move, like she was frozen or something" he said taking another sip of his drink

"I don't think she heard me when I tried to apologize...she just kept crying and crying" he said hanging his head again

Sasuke crossed one leg over his knee as he drank some more Scotch, smiling since Naruto wasn't looking "Sounds bad"

"Yeah...she probably hates me now, Kurenai Sensei was telling Grandma Tsunade how that painting was suppose to be part of Hinata's portfolio for her college applications next year"

Sasuke smiled even wider at this "Really?" he said but changed back to his usual bored face when Naruto looked up "Hmp...looks like you really screwed up dobe" finishing his drink and pouring himself another one

"Yeah I did" Naruto said feeling even worse "And tomorrow I'm suppose to go over her house to work on the report for Kakashi Sensei...if she's still gonna work with me" he said sadly

Sasuke looked at him raising an eyebrow but then he got an idea. He sighed as if he was tired "She needs to work with you in order to get a full grade...but if you want, me and Sakura could come with you to her house to make it less awkward for you" he said trying to sound like doing it would be a chore.

"Really? You would do? Awe thanks Sasuke! I owe you one" he said his face brightening up instantly

"Tsk whatever, just don't get all weird loser" he said taking another drink. Ever since Naruto had made that "date" with Hinata he had been thinking of ways to ruin it and this seemed perfect.

"Wait a minute! So you and Sakura made up already?" Naruto asked thinking about how they hadn't spoken to each other all day. Normal for Sasuke, weird for Sakura.

"No, but I'm sure she'll come around tomorrow" Sasuke said closing his eyes and running his hand through his hair

"Hmm...look Sasuke I don't know what you guys are arguing about but maybe for once you could reach out to _her _first" Naruto said emphasizing his words carefully

Sasuke looked at him "And why would I do that?"

"Because Sakura is _always_ the one to apologize even when somethings your fault teme. Don't forget that she's my friend and she was yours too before you guys started going out" he said

"Your point being?" Sasuke said not caring

Naruto grit his teeth together "Grr my point being, that she isn't one of your stupid fan girls- she cares about you and really loves you Sasuke...you need to start treating her better or else you gonna lose her and not just as your girlfriend" he said irritated looking at him

Sasuke just stared at him before he closed his eyes and sighed "Fine I get it, enough with the lecture already"

Naruto smiled, that was good enough for him. He looked at his watch and saw that it was almost 8:30. "Oh man! I gotta go" he said getting up and putting his drink on the small coffee table in front of them. "Do you think you can give me a ride home Sasuke?" he asked grabbing his bag

"No" Sasuke said shaking his drink back and forth

"Oh right" Naruto nodded remembering Sasuke's diligent drinking and driving rule as he got up to walk him out. "I guess I'll just have to run it, you know how my mom is when if I'm not there for dinner" he said as they walked down the hall.

"Oh hey! I just got a great idea! Where did you buy that bracelet for Sakura? Maybe I could get one for Hinata as an apology" Naruto said excitedly looking at Sasuke

Sasuke's eyes narrowed slightly, Hinata wouldn't hold a grudge for too long. And he knew that a gift from Naruto would be like a dream come true for her. He was a little surprised when he learned about her infatuation with his idiot of a best friend, but luckily Naruto was too thick to notice so he wouldn't suspect a thing by his next "advice".

"Do you really think that a gift could make up for you ruining something she worked so hard on?" he said flatly

Naruto frowned at his words then drooped his shoulders in defeat "Yeah I guess your right, it was really something" he said remembering the moon and the flowers "Plus my dad wouldn't let me spend that much money all at once anyway" he said grinning again

"Hmp" Sasuke said opening the door to let him out

"Well see ya later Sasuke and thanks, you helped me a lot" Naruto said waving before he ran off

Sasuke closed the door, leaning against it as he listened to the empty silence of the house. Now that his father was home his parents went to the theater and then dinner leaving the house to himself. Sasuke felt his body shake a little before he started to laugh uncontrollably!

* * *

Sasuke's laughter rang throughout the whole house, filling every room. He couldn't remember the last time he laughed this hard! Oh this release and happiness felt so good! It was a happiness he's never known before.

"Ah, ha ha, ha ha, ha" he laughed trying to settle down as he wiped away his eyes, his breathing heavy. _That couldn't have gone better even if I hadn't planned it_ he thought walking to the living room and flopping on the couch. As he lied there he kept laughing lightly, thinking about everything Naruto told him, trying to imagine her crying as the painting she worked on for months was gone in an instant- and all by the person she admired and loved the most!

"Heh" Sasuke laughed thinking about it. He remembered from all the time he was watching her from a far, how she would sometimes stay after school in the art room and his curiosity got the better of him. So one day during lunch when Kurenai Sensei wasn't there he picked the lock to the back room and saw a canvas full of pressed flowers and paint. Something about it told him it belonged to her but he had to wait to find out for sure, then after a couple weeks he overheard a conversation between Kurenai and Asuma that confirmed it.

When he saw the moon last night he knew it was the perfect payback for giving the bracelet to Sakura. He went to school extra early so no one else would be there and even though the school had cameras the art room didn't. It was locked but he had convinced the janitor to let him in, saying he had come early to work on a few art pieces for class, which he did...Kurenai had been on him about his work in class and had drawn a few landscapes so she would get off his back.

It gave him the perfect opportunity to plant the left over paint Hinata had bought on top of the cabinet right above her artwork, making sure to place it carefully so that if moved it would fall and spill all over it. Then using the wax he "borrowed" from the janitors cart, he waxed the floor around the table so that she would trip when she came close enough to the table. Knowing how clumsy she was he didn't see any reason why she wouldn't think it was an accident of her own doing.

_It was almost too easy_ Sasuke thought sitting up and reaching for his laptop that was on the small side table in one of the corners of the couch. Opening it he happily looked at his new screen saver. It was Hinata's almost complete pressed flower art painting. He had taken a picture of it before he had set everything up- he had to admit, it _was_ good and he could have seen her winning a high award for it...but now it was gone, covered in darkness.

Sasuke frowned thinking of Naruto. It wasn't part of the plan but that fool had somehow gotten himself involved and of all the luck **he** had to be the one to bump into the table and was starting to feel bad.

_Well, he didn't get in too much trouble anyway _he thought _I'll just buy him some ramen to make it up to him_

Deciding that he would simply go out if his way to be nicer to Naruto, Sasuke pulled out his phone to order some food.

About an hour later Sasuke was in his room feeling uncomfortably full from all the Chinese food he ate. He kinda wished he had made Hinata come over to make him dinner again but the idea of her working on a 15 page paper was more fun to think about so he let it be even though he had been tempted to call her. Sasuke laughed as he took off his clothes and put on some black sweats and a red T-shirt. He grabbed his bottle of prescription pills putting two in his mouth and swallowing them with the rest of his Scotch. He crawled under the covers, shifting until he got comfortable letting the warmth of the covers and the alcohol take over, falling asleep with a smile on his face.

* * *

**AN: I had so much fun writing this chapter! Let me tell you all right now this chapter wasn't meant to have so much dialogue but I just kept going and didn't wanna stop. Let me ask you guys something, are these chapters too short? Am I dragging out these scenes or do you like the flow of the story? I'm going to speed things up in the next chapters-get to some key events and turning points or I might end them shorter and post more frequently...**

**So what do you guys think? I was going for a mix of really sweet and wickedly evil. Evil Sasuke is SO much fun to write. Sorry about the lack of SasuHina interaction lately but it's coming up more in the next chapters and SPOILER ALERT a big surprise for our lovely Miss Hyuga in the next one. Thank you all sooo much for the reviews it makes me so happy reading each and every one of them. Well let me know what you guys think and any questions and ideas are always welcome. Until next time :)**

***Watashi Ni xx Shinasai! 49 . Inspired by this scene I do not own Watashi Ni xx Shinasai! **


	10. Double Date

Double Date

Hinata could barely keep her eyes open in school the next day. She was standing by her locker trying to open it her for the third time. She had finished Sasukes paper late, really late, like 30 minutes before her alarm clock went off at 6:00 late. It had taken her the whole night to write 15 pages on physics that wasn't from her own paper and she was soooo tired! She didn't even get to rest when she was finished because she had to get ready to make breakfast.

"There!" Hinata said as she managed to finally get her locker open. She looked in the little mirror that she kept and studied her reflection. Well, at least she didn't look as tired as she felt...when she saw herself in the mirror this morning there was no nice way of saying that she had looked terrible. Her eyes had been all red and puffy which looked really weird against **her** eyes. Her normally smooth and porcelain skin looked grey and pasty, all from one stressful sleepless night. Her looks didn't improve even after she got out of the shower and it forced Hinata to do something she never did before...she used make up.

Hinata used the make up kit Tenten had given her for her birthday. Tenten always complained that Hinata didn't know how attractive she was and bought that for her hoping it would help bring her out of her shell. Hinata had never used it before but she was really desperate this morning and didn't want to go to school looking so gross. She put on something called C.C. Cream all over her face along with some concealer for her eyes. Then she blended some mouse foundation giving her a refreshed dewy finish. Hinata had never understood why women spent so much money on makeup that always claimed it would be as if it wasn't even there...but looking at herself in the mirror and remembering how she was this morning, she finally understood why...

"Hinata?"

She jumped and slammed her locker in surprise, she turned around recognizing that voice

"Naruto I-Oh! Naruto!" Hinata said loudly, shocked as she looked at him

"Hey" he said waving his hand nervously and smiling the best that he could considering his face was covered in bruises and had two black eyes

"What happened?" she asked concerned as she reached out to touch his face

"Oh um, this is from Neji" he said pointing at his right eye "This one's from Kiba" pointing to his left, "Shino" pointing to his cheek "And Tenten" he said bowing slightly to show her a bump on the top of his head.

Naruto looked up and smiled awkwardly "Hey, don't worry about it Hinata...Ive had worse injuries than thi-

Hinata silenced him, putting her fingers on his lips for a second before grabbing his arm and pulling him away.

* * *

Sasuke was walking down the hall way of the film club ignoring all the screams and shrieks from the blob of girls that had been trying to get his attention the moment he stepped inside the school. He was looking for Sakura so he could talk to her like Naruto had asked him. Normally he would have never even considered doing something like this but he had promised himself to be nicer to Naruto for getting him in trouble. Plus he needed Sakura if he planned on ruining Naruto's "date" with Hinata later.

Sasuke turned the corner and saw her talking to Ino, he quickly made his way over to her wanting ready to get it over with. Sakura and Ino stopped talking when they saw him approaching "Can I talk to you?" he asked trying his best not to make it sound like an order

Sakura nodded and the two went to the staircase. "What?" she said crossing her arms and looking at him, still very angry

Sasuke had to fight the impulse to turn around and just ignore her for the rest of the day but instead he sighed and closed his eyes "I overreacted" he said

Sakura looked at him with wide eyes- it wasn't exactly an apology but this was the closest he had ever come to say it, but she wasn't going to let him off that easy. Sakura had talked to Ino last night until she was blue in the face and Ino told her that if she wanted Sasuke to treat her better she needed to be more assertive.

"Hmp! Yeah you were, who do you think you are trying to push me around like that?"

Sasuke scowled at her and reminded himself that he was doing this for Naruto "It was your fault too"

Sakura's eyes narrowed "That doesn't mean you can treat me like that Sasuke! I'm not some door mat you can walk over" she said firmly

Sasuke stared at her for a moment before closing his eyes and turning away "Look Sakura, either you find a way to forgive me and admit your own fault or we end it" he said cooly

Sakura felt her heart beat fearfully. "_End it? As in break up?_" she thought. After almost two years together he was willing to break up so easily!? She didn't want that, not after loving him for so long.

Sakura bit her lip and looked away "I...I guess I was being pretty annoying" she said turning a little red

Sasuke looked at her for before turning away again

"I'm sorry too" she said shyly looking up at him

"So we're good now?" he asked keeping his eyes closed

Sakura smiled and wrapped her arms around him in a hug "Of course we are!" she said looking at him lovingly

Sasuke kissed her forehead before stepping out of her arms "I'll see you in homeroom"

Sakura smiled as he walked away. She was happy they had made up even if she was a little bitter that he didn't actually apologize but at least he had reached out to her...he was making an effort.

"Are you ok Sakura" Ino asked walking next to her

"Yeah, you were right Ino being more assertive helped" she said happily

Ino smiled at her but she couldn't help but worry for her friend...

.

.

.

Sasuke sighed as he walked another empty hallway, his classroom was on the other side of the building on the first floor but he still had 20 minutes to go before class started so he knew he would be fine. He didn't really feel better now that he and Sakura were speaking again. It felt no different than when they were fighting. Maybe he shouldn't have made up with her, it was certainly quieter when she wasn't talking to him but it did leave him open for other girls to try and attack him and confess their love. Sasuke was pondering these thoughts when he saw something that made him stop dead.

From the window he could see below into the garden and outside on one of the benches sat Naruto being tended to by Hinata. Sasuke moved to the wall by the window blocking him from their view and opened it slightly so he could hear what they were saying.

"Hinata you don't have to do this" Naruto said as Hinata got out some herbal ointment from her bag

"Of course I do, it's because of me that your hurt...I'm so sorry Naruto" she said taking out some gaws and bandages. Hinata always carried around herbal medicine and bandages-just in case.

"When did they do this to you?" she asked opening the tiny jar

"Kiba and Shino got me when I went home yesterday...and er, Neji and Tenten this morning" he said trying to sound cool

"You poor thing" she said dabbing his cheek with her finger

Naruto looked at her before he dropped his eyes "I deserved it Hinata...**I'm** the one who should be saying sorry and I am- I'm really really sorry for what I did" he said sadly

Hinata flushed with affection, "I-I know you are Naruto, it was an accident y-you don't have to apologize"

"Yeah I do!" he said loudly wincing as Hinata applied more ointment on his cheek "Your were gonna use that for your college portfolio weren't you?"

Hinata shrugged "I can always make another one, I still have plenty of time before I start applying to schools"

"Yeah but-

"Naruto please hold still" she said softly

Naruto watched her as she put a bandage over his cheek "What is this stuff Hinata?"

"It's medicine for cuts and bruises" she said gently dabbing some on his eye with a cotton ball

"It smells nice" he said breathing it in "Really sweet"

"It's homemade" she said smiling

"Really? What's in it?" he asked curious

"Honey, aloe vera, barberry and some lavender" she said

Naruto shifted his feet nervously as Hinata put more ointment on his eye. He had expected it to burn when she put it on but is was surprisingly soothing and a little tingly...in a good way. _"Hinata's so nice, doing this for me after what I did" _he thought looking at her closely. He never noticed how pretty she was before, she was always stuttering and avoiding eye contact with him that he never really looked at her face properly. But now that they were so close, she looked _different._ Naruto noticed the way her long lashes luminated her eyes and how pink and pretty her lips looked. She was blushing a little and her whole face seem to be glowing softly... like an angel.

Naruto looked away hoping she didn't notice "I would feel much better if you'd yell or hit me Hinata" he said

Hinata paused for a moment before she grabbed his hand "Don't feel bad Naruto, I know it was an accident and Ive already forgiven you" she said giving him a sweet smile

"R-Really?" he asked in disbelief

Hinata nodded "Mmm...your a good person and I know you would never do something to hurt me, I'm a little sad that the paintings gone but I don't blame you for it"

"But...But I'm the one who ruined it" he said as she began to dab his eye again

"It probably would have been me if I was in your place, you know how clumsy I am" she said giggling

"_She's so great"_ he thought with a small laugh

"Thank you Hinata...for forgiving me" he said quietly

Hinata waved her hand back and forth "Don't worry about it"

"Your a really good friend" Naruto said blushing

She turned her head to hide her smile, blushing too.

"Y-You didn't get into too much trouble did you?" she asked

"Oh...uh I guess not considering what I did, Granny Tsunade is making stay after school for cleaning duties all next week and I have to take extra lessons on Saturdays for the next 2 months"

Hinata felt bad for him, everyone knew those "extra" lessons they offered were boring remedial classes for stupid people and those who went were usually forced to go.

"If Iruka Sensei hadn't been there it might have been worse" Naruto said

"Iruka Sensei is really nice isn't he?" she said putting the bandages away

Naruto frowned "Yeah right, he's the one who said I should take those stupid lessons for 2 months" he said irritably making Hinata giggle. Naruto smiled too hearing her laugh "Well, it's no biggie, it'll go by fast" he said happily

Hinata handed him the left over jar of ointment "Here, you can keep it. It should help heal your bruises" she said

"Thanks" he said taking it from her "So am I still invited to your house today to work on the report for Kakashi Sensei?"

"Of course" she said happily.

"Great!" he said standing up and stretching "Thanks Hinata, I'm already starting to feel better" he said touching his face

"Your welcome...we should get going homeroom starts in 10 minutes" she said also standing up

"Yeah lets go" he said taking her bag and carrying it for her before she could say anything and together they left the garden

Leaning against the wall Sasuke sat on the floor clenching his fist _"I guess it didn't work"_ he thought resting his forehead on his arm...

.

* * *

Students quickly ran out the door as the bell rang. Hinata tried her best stay out of their way and not bump into anyone as she made her way back to her locker. Her French test did not go well. She kept yawning and slurring her words during the debate so she knew there was no way she got a high grade. With Ebisu's standards the most she could hope for was a C.

"Hinata"

She turned to see Neji next to her, but she wasn't in the mood to deal with him right now

"What happened back there? It sounded like you were trying to fail" Neji said sternly

Hinata looked at him skeptically "Neji why would I **try** to fail?"

"What time did you go to sleep last night?" he asked ignoring her

Hinata bit her lip "Late" she said softly

"Why?"

"Oh Neji what does it matter now? It's already over...I'll just do some extra credit work to keep my grade up" she said hoping to end his lecture short

"It matters because you shouldn't slack off like that and expect everything to be ok"

"Neji I know please can we just forget it already"

Neji gave her a look for a moment "Fine, but don't let this become a habit Hinata" he said "I'll be at the dojo with Lee if you need me for anything"

"K" she said nodding, he kissed the top of her head before he grabbed his gym bag off the floor and walked away.

Hinata leaned against her locker feeling tired, anxious and a little excited. She didn't know where Naruto was but wanted to find him so they could head over to her house and maybe work in her room...?

"Hey Hinata!" She turned and smiled as she saw Naruto walking towards her followed by...ohhhh-Sakura and Sasuke- her smile fell a little

"H-Hi" she said nervously

"Hey, ready to go? I hope you don't mind but I invited Sasuke and Sakura so we could all work on our reports together" Naruto said cheerfully

"N-No I don't mind" she said forcing herself to smile at both Sakura and Sasuke

"Hi Hinata, I can't wait to go over your house" Sakura said her arm entwined with Sasukes. Hinata saw that she was wearing the bracelet Sasuke had given her and she felt her heart pounded faster when she looked at Sasuke. Sakura thought it was the perfect opportunity to try and befriend Hinata and to see if there was anything going on between her and Sasuke.

"All right let's go!" Naruto said running towards the exit. Sakura sighed closing her eyes and pinching between her brows while Sasuke gave Hinata a smirk, sending a cold shiver down her spine as she looked away.

**Sasuke Uchiha: 2 Hinata Hyuga: 2**

* * *

"This is your house Hinata?" Sakura asked 20 minutes later as they got out of Sasukes car looking at the outside of the house. The ride over wasn't too bad, Sasuke and Sakura rode in the front while Hinata and Naruto sat in the back. Naruto had talked to Hinata all the way over so she hadn't really been that uncomfortable being around Sasuke...but now it was time to go inside.

"Y-Yeah" Hinata said faintly tripping over herself

"It's nice" she said walking next to her

"T-Thank you" Hinata said quietly

Hinata's family were considered upper middle class and lived in a nice house. It had a very traditional japanese design with 3 floors including an attic, 2 bathrooms, a bath house and a zen garden in the yard. Compared to Sasukes house it was pretty small and she was sure that Naruto and Sakura lived in mansions like his so she was sure they wouldn't be impressed.

Hinata led them inside as they took off their shoes in the huge entrance hall.

"Wow, I feel like I stepped back in time" Naruto said looking around fascinated

Hinata blushed, if it were anyone else she would have thought they were making fun of her but it sounded like a compliment coming from Naruto, almost sweet. "My fathers very conservative" she said opening the sliding door to the sitting room where they could work.

"It's so old fashioned" Sakura said amazed

Hinata smiled sitting down on a sitting pillow next to the small table. Sasuke had yet to say anything but she preferred it that way, it would be easier to pretend he wasn't here if he didn't talk. She had so been looking forward to it just being her and Naruto but he had somehow managed to ruin that for her. She couldn't understand what his problem was...she already gave him his paper, did he really have to bother her just because she wasn't going to come work for him today?

"Well we should get to work" Hinata said facing Naruto who was sitting next to her

"Mmm...what kind of poem did you guys pick?" he asked Sakura and Sasuke who were across from them

"We choose an old poem by Ono no Komachi" Sakura said "A love poem" she said grabbing Sasukes hand

"Yeah? Lets hear it" Naruto said

**_"Though I go to you_**  
**_ceaselessly along dream paths,_**  
**_the sum of those trysts_**  
**_is less than a single glimpse_**  
**_granted in the waking world."_**

Sakura read out loud. "It's romantic, don't you think?"

"Mmm" Hinata nodded smiling

"Whaaa? There was nothing romantic in that poem, right Sasuke?" he said looking at him

"An idiot like you wouldn't understand" Sasuke said moving his hand away from Sakura's looking bored

"Ehhh? What are you talking about I didn't hear anything about love, did you Hinata?" Naruto asked turning his head to look at her

"W-Well, she was saying was that this person...this person that she l-loves...she can only see in her dreams but never in the real world" she said turning red as she tried to keep eye contact with him. Hinata understood the poem all to well, often dreaming about Naruto but never really talking to him.

"Huh, so she loves this person but only dreams about them...that's weird" he said scratching the back of his head

"Geez Naruto it's an old poem, written in the 9thcentury" Sakura said exasperated

"So?" he said still not getting it

"S-So its not that she **only** dreams about him, it's that she probably can't do anything else because of the restrictions placed on women back then" Hinata said

"Oh that makes sense, you explain that better than Sakura, Hinata" he said smiling

Sakura growled wanting to punch Naruto in the face. "What about you guys? What poem did you pick?" she asked looking at them

"Er well, we haven't actually picked on yet" Naruto said with a sly grin

"Naruto you better not slack off on this it isn't fair to Hinata" Sakura said threateningly

"I-It's fine Sakura thats why we're here" Hinata said opening their book of poems and flipping through the pages

"How about this one?" Hinata said pointing to page 54 " 'In Childhood' by Kimiko Hahn"

"Hmm lets see" Naruto said moving closer to her as he began to read the poem out loud

**_"things don't die or remain damaged_**

**_but return: stumps grow back hands, _**

**_a head reconnects to a neck, _**

**_a whole corpse rises blushing and newly elastic. _**

**_Later this vision is not True: _**

**_the grandmother remains dead_**

**_ not hibernating in a wolf's belly._**

**_ Or the blue parakeet does not return _**

**_from the little grave in the fern garden _**

**_though one may wake in the morning _**

**_thinking mother's call is the bird. _**

**_Or maybe the bird is with grandmother inside light. Or grandmother was the bird _**

**_and is now the dog _**

**_gnawing on the chair leg. _**

**_Where do the gone things go _**

**_when the child is old enough_**

**_ to walk herself to school, _**

**_her playmates already_**

**_ pumping so high the swing hiccups?" . . ._**

"O-kay?" Naruto said slowly looking at Hinata for an explanation

"It's like a reflection on childhood or the things and stories our parents tell us that aren't really true" she said smiling gently at him

"What do you mean?" he asked

"Well, you know how most fairy tales have a happy ending? It's questioning what happens when the child grows up and realizes thats not how the world works" she said

"Oh! Okay! But wait, what's the big deal? Everyone learns that stuff eventually?" Naruto said looking at the poem again

Sakura rolled her eyes "Yeah Naruto but its saying that it's sad to lose that child like wonder when faced with reality"

"Huh well I guess its a little sad" he said re-reading the poem

"It's because you still have the mind of a child that you don't get it" Sasuke said finally

Naruto glared at him "Grr...oh yeah? Then explain it to me Mr. attitude"

Sasuke sighed "It's about saying that all the things that happen when we're younger are a bunch of lies and that the reality is people die and can't come back to life, you can hope for reincarnation but it's probably not real" he said flatly "Although I agree with you about it not being a big deal, growing up isn't suppose to be easy but thats what makes people strong and I think strength for happiness is a good trade"

"T-That sound awful, who would wanna be unhappy" Hinata said looking at him sideways

"I never said a person wants to be unhappy, its just something that happens" he said scowling at her

"Yeah but when you say trade, its like you willingly choose not to be happy because it makes you weak" she said

Sasuke shrugged "It's through pain that people become strong and those who can't accept that are just fooling themselves"

"It just sounds like a way to avoid getting hurt" Hinata said blushing softly

Silence filled the room. "Um guys I think we're getting a little off topic here" Sakura said looking from Sasuke to Hinata "Why don't we just get back to our reports" she said with a nervous laugh

"Yeah, even though I don't really understand it, I think we can still write a pretty good report on it Hinata" Naruto said not catching the tension between her and Sasuke

"Y-Yeah" Hinata said turning her gaze back to Naruto "Lets get started" she said smiling at him

For the next hour Naruto and Hinata worked on their poem while Sakura and Sasuke worked on theirs. Things were going pretty well. Naruto was having a hard time but Hinata didn't mind, she thought it was adorable the way he was having trouble translating the poem into a report. She was really having fun with Naruto who kept making her laugh and Sakura was surprisingly nice and easy to talk to. There were moments when she forgot about Sasuke who was just sitting there, not really talking to any of them. Hinata was blushing more and more as Naruto kept leaning closer to her, it was when his hand briefly brushed against her thigh that she got up to get them some snacks.

"I'll help you" Sakura said following her into the kitchen Hinata opened the fridge getting out a few sodas.

"Hey Hinata" Sakura said

"Yes Sakura?" she said

"You like Naruto don't you?"

Hinata blushed deeply dropping the drinks "Wha? N-No, N-no I-

"Oh come on, you do don't you?" Sakura asked

Hinata smiled shyly, grabbing a bag of chips from the pantry "Aww, I knew it! I knew from the way you act around him that you like him" Sakura squealed keeping her voice low. "Let me give you some advice, Naruto doesn't do sutle if you want him to notice you need to be a little forward "O-Ok" Hinata said blushing furiously

"Oh hey do you have any cake? Sasuke loves it" she said happily

"Umm yeah we have some strawberry cake if thats fine" she said confused, remembering what Sasuke said about sweet things

"Oh thats perfect" Sakura said grabbing the two small plates and sodas Hinata offered her walking back to the sitting room Hinata followed her with two more pieces of cake and the bag of chips and some sodas.

When Hinata came back in she gave Naruto a piece of cake and a soda. She saw Sasuke looking at the piece of cake with disgust and reached out offering him the bag of chips, he looked at her for a moment before taking them from her. Hinata sat down and turned to face Naruto

"Mmm... Hinata did you make this?" Naruto said happily, eating the cake

"Yeah" Hinata said quietly looking down at her plate

"No way! Did you really Hinata? This is amazing!" Sakura said looking totally surprised

"It's no big deal" Hinata said feeling embarrassed

"No its really good, it reminds me of this bakery I went to in Paris with my parents for New Years" she said earnestly smiling at her

"I'd definitely pay for cake like this Hinata" Naruto said finishing his piece

"Thank you Naruto" she said blushing again

"Sasuke try some" Sakura said sitting closer to him trying to feed him a piece

"I don't want any" he said trying to push Sakura off him

"Come on" she whined "At least try the frosting-it's really refreshing" dabbing her finger on the cake and attempting to put it on his lips

"I'm fine" he said grabbing her hand and pulling it away from his face

"It's all right Sakura, please don't make Sasuke eat it if he doesn't want to" Hinata pleaded, not wanting Sasuke to get upset

Sakura giggled "Saving dessert for later Sasuke?" she said playfully licking her finger making Sasuke scowl at her and Hinata to look away. Hinata's eyes glanced at the bracelet on Sakuras wrist again and wondered if she had ever suspected that it wasn't meant for her...

"Well we finished the report but maybe you could look it over just in case Hinata" Naruto asked turning to her

"Oh, yes I-

She heard the front door open and a voice call "I'm home". Hinata stood up automatically and went to the front door to greet Neji

"Hey" he said smiling and bent forward, reaching out for her. He was still in his training clothes, he looked tired and she could tell that he was exhausted.

"Welcome home" Hinata said smiling at him and opening her arms, allowing herself to be pulled into a tight hug. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders as he buried his nose in her neck, closing his eyes and sighing. She felt his muscle relax as if his troubles had disappeared...he pulled back a little smiling down at her but then he looked up noticing Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura in the sitting room watching them.

He frowned, his face returning to his usually stern and calm expression "Whats going on?" he asked looking at Hinata

"I had a project to do with Naruto and father said I had to do all projects here from now on" she said pressing the tips of her fingers together

Neji continued to frown getting annoyed "And why are they here?" he asked pointing at Sasuke and Sakura

"Would you preferred if I was alone with Naruto" she said in a low voice so only he would hear

"Are you almost done then?" he asked gritting his teeth together

"Not even friendly in your own home are you Neji" Naruto said from the sitting room

"Shouldn't you be leaving or would you like me to smash your face in again?" he threatened stepping towards him. Hinata put her hands on his chest halting his movements "Neji please" she begged, her eyes pleading with him

Neji gave her a look before turning away "Tsk if thats what you want fine" he said "Don't be much longer Hinata, you should prep for dinner before you go to work" he said harshly going upstairs. Hinata knew Neji's anger wasn't really directed at her so she took no insult to his words

"I guess we'll be leaving sorry if we overstayed our welcome Hinata" Sakura said as she got up with Naruto and Sasuke

"Please don't mind Neji" Hinata said opening the front door for them "Well I had a lot of fun and thanks for inviting us into your home" Sakura said bowing a little and walking out

"Yeah I had a blast, let me know if you wanna work on the report some more this weekend Hinata" Naruto said grabbing her hand and writing his phone number on it

"Okay Naruto" Hinata said turning red, trying not to faint "See ya later" he said waving following Sakura

Sasuke simply walked out without saying anything and Hinata quickly closed the door behind her leaning against it. She exhaled out deeply, looking up she saw Neji at the top of the stairs with his arms folded across his chest, a disapproving look on his face.

"What?" she said

"Why would you let them in our home Hinata?" Neji asked making his way down the stairs

"I told you I had a report to work on with N-Naruto, it's not like I had a choice and I k-knew you and f-father wouldn't approve of me being a-alone in the house with a b-boy so I thought it would be better to bring along Sakura and Sasuke" she said fidgeting with her fingers. It was a big lie- Hinata had been looking for the chance for some 'alone' time with Naruto since well...forever, but it wasn't a good idea to let Neji know that

"This is what I mean when I say your too nice, I have no problem to say the least with Sakura but Naruto and Sasuke are not worth your time Hinata, you shouldn't associate with them"

"But Neji-

"I'm only looking out for you Hinata, I understand that your forced to be Sasuke's maid but don't spend time with him if you don't have too" he said standing in front of her. Hinata nodded agreeing with him on that part. He relaxed his shoulders a little and tried to give her another hug but she playfully pushed him away "Neji go take a bath, you seriously stink" she said leaving him standing there trying not to let his mouth tilt upward into a smile.

* * *

Saturdays were made for sleeping in, watching cartoons and doing nothing.

Hinata was so happy that the weekend was here and that she could finally get some sleep. After she finished her shift from work yesterday all she wanted to do was crawl into bed and knock out but she knew that if she didn't make dinner her family wouldn't eat or burn the house down trying to cook. Thankfully she had prepped the food before she went to work so it didn't take her that long to cook, once the meal was ready and the table was set she excused herself saying she didn't feel well and fell asleep the second her head touched her pillow.

It felt so good to sleep and Hinata was in heaven. Sasuke had been stressing her out so much lately that both her mind and body needed a good rest...so what the hell was that noise waking her up from her sweet slumber!

**Ring, ring, ring**

"Hmmm" Hinata moaned _"What now?"_

**Ring, ring, ring**

Hinata reached blindly for her bag on the floor, her head still buried under the covers. When she finally found it she reached inside and felt around for the phone.

"Hello" she answered, her voice still drowsy from sleep

"You really are lazy on Saturdays aren't you" she heard an arrogant voice say

Hinata groaned...that voice could only belong to one person and right now she was too tired to deal with him

"Whaddaya want?" she said forgetting her manners and suppressing a yawn

"First of all it's already 12:00 and second lose the attitude and get up, I need you to come over" Sasuke said annoyance in his voice

"Ugh... now?" Hinata whined her eyes already drifting off to sleep again

"Yes now and hurry up, I have a lot for you to do today" he said quickly "Do you really wanna keep me waiting?"

Hinata could hear the threat in his tone and grudgingly pulled the covers off herself " I'll be there as soon as I can" she said sitting up and stretching

"Hn...good you have 1 hour" he said hanging up

Hinata looked at the phone and saw that it 12:05. _"I better hurry"_ she thought quickly getting up to take a shower

40 minutes later Hinata found herself in front of Sasukes door. She didn't have much time to get ready so she threw on the easiest outfit she could put together. She had on a dark violet dress with half sleeves that was a little above her mid-thighs with a sash tied in a small bow in front and brought out the color of her eyes. Hinata didn't know where the dress came from and only grabbed it because she was in a hurry but she had this shrewd suspicion that Tenten had been exchanging her clothes while she was at work. It showed off her figure nicely but kept her breast fully covered and even though it was short it wasn't _too_ short. She completed the look with some black leggings and a pair of brown boots that reached up to her calfs.

Hinata rang the door bell and waited. After a few minutes the door opened and a young man with dark onyx eyes with tear troughs underneath stood in front of her.

* * *

**AN: Surprise Hinata! How will she handle two young Uchihas? Man this was a long chapter. I really hope you guys enjoy it, Im glad I was able to finish this chapter today because I'm going on vacation next week and the next chapter wont be up until I get back. I feel that some big events are needed in the next couple chapters and that Ive been stirring things up but nothing big has occured because of it...I'm going to get a little out of my comfort zone and write differently for the next chapters. I already have the next chapter planned for Itachi but I'm not sure what to cover next...I have too many ideas I don't know which one to pick. What would you guys like to see covered soon? If I get enough of the same similar answers I'll write the next chapters around it...Ok see you guys in 2 weeks! Please, please, please, please, please, please, please review!**


	11. Itachi Uchiha

Itachi Uchiha

Hinata stared at the man in front of her. He had long jet black hair that was tied in a low pony tail, with the same dark eyes like Sasuke but they had a gentle warmth to them. He was taller than her by at least a foot and a half and he looked older too but by no more than a few years. When he cleared his throat she realized just how long she had been staring at him and she blushed.

"Can I help you?" he said

"Oh, I'm sorry I'm-

"She's here for me Itachi" Sasuke said behind him with a scowl on his face

Itachi turned around to look at Sasuke, surprised "Oh? I didn't know you were expecting anyone" he turned back to Hinata "My apologies, please come in" he said politely stepping aside so she could enter

Hinata walked inside smiling shyly at this Itachi guy...he looked a lot like Sasuke so she figured they must be related and he was every bit as handsome as Sasuke but there was a certain charm and maturity about him that Sasuke lacked.

"So your a friend of Sasukes?" he asked closing the door behind him

"Well um-"

"Yes, she's is and we'll be upstairs" Sasuke said grabbing Hinata's wrist and pulling her up the stairs

"Er... alright I'll just be down here if you need me" Itachi said as he watched both of them go upstairs. Hinata gave him a small wave goodbye before reaching the top of the steps and down the hall way to Sasukes room.

"Is that your brother?" she asked as they stepped inside his room

Sasuke gave her an annoyed look "Yeah, sorry about that... I wasn't expecting him this early or else I wouldn't have called you over"

Hinata was shocked for two reasons.

One, he apologized and two it seemed that she wasn't the cause of his annoyance "Oh well...I could leave if you want me to" she said quietly

"Heh, nice try Hyuga" he said smirking

Damn! He saw through her escape plan. Turning away Hinata noticed that his room was completely trashed! "Wha...What happened?" she said looking around in horror

"I was looking for a pen yesterday and I tore the room to shreds trying to find one" he said sounding tired

"A...a pen?" she said in disbelief

"Yes" he said looking unconcerned "It was very important to me and I couldn't find it and now I need you to clean up"

"Don't you think that was a little extreme just to look for a pen?" she asked watching him make his way to the bed though all the mess. He sat down facing her and waved for her to come over, patting on the bed so she would sit next to him. Hinata approached cautiously stopping in front of him and sitting down a little away from him. He moved down the bed, closing the gap between them watching her fidget under his gaze

"You don't have to clean this up if you don't want to" he said

"T-Then why did you call me over?"

"You didn't let me finish" he said reaching out and tucking her hair behind her ear "You have a choice, you can either clean my room" he leaned forward "Or have some fun with me" he whispered, his tongue lightly swirling against her earlobe

Hinata felt her heart beat faster and before knew what was happening she was lying on the bed with Sasuke rolling on top of her. He ran a hand up her thigh, slipping it under her dress. She gasped and grabbed his hand before he could move any further.

"No" she said exhaling

Sasuke brushed his nose lightly against hers "No what?" he breathed. He kissed her neck softly making Hinata feel a small pulsing sensation in her chest. A soft sound escaped from her lips when he kissed the delicate spot just behind her ear making her back arch slightly and her leg move against the outside of his. Sasuke pushed himself up looking down at her face, he licked his lips slowly as he closed his eyes and lowered his head closer to hers

_Wait is he going to?...NO!_

Coming back to her senses she pushed him off her and quickly stood up, panting. No matter what Hinata would **not** give in to Sasukes temptation no matter how much her _desires_ begged her to.

"I...I'll clean the room" she said breathlessly

He frowned but then his face became stoic "All right" he shrugged as if he could care less. He got up and handed her a red shopping bag. "I had to get you a new one since you messed up the other one" he said

Hinata frowned and looked inside. It was a new maid outfit. This one was black and white with a small apron in front. It was short and very small, not leaving much for the imagination. Hinata looked up at him

"I guessed your size based on the one you wore before" he said smirking at her "I suggest you put that on quickly unless you want my assistance"

Hinata threw him a hateful look before going into his bathroom to change. When she came out she saw his eyes widen a little. Not only was it small but it was really _tight, _accentuating all her curves and pushing her breast up so that they formed little mounds on her chest. Her skirt didn't have any fluff this time, just a short hem that hardly covered her thighs...but she had on thigh high black stockings so her legs weren't really exposed except for the space where the hem of her skirt and stockings didn't reach. She had a white head band on and a feather duster in her hand.

Hinata lifted the duster "You know no one uses these things right?" she said her whole face red

Sasukes eyes look up and down her body "Get to work" he said getting up and walking out. Hinata glared at the door, why did he make her dress up if he wasn't even going to stay? Wait why was she complaining? Hinata picked up some clothes on the floor and started to clean.

* * *

About an hour later Hinata was almost done, all she needed to do was make the bed. Sasuke had yet to return and 15 minutes earlier Hinata reasoned that if he wasn't actually going to be here she didn't have to wear the outfit, so she took it off and changed back into her own clothes. She felt much more relaxed and it was easier to clean without her worrying about him suddenly barging in while she was bending over or something.

She sighed as she smoothed the comforter of his queen size bed. Hinata stepped to the side putting the last pillow by the headboard, accidentally knocking into his night stand causing a wristwatch to fall under the bed. Hinata got down on her knees trying to find it. There was a lot of stuff under his bed...old socks, a few CD's, some shoe boxes, a small book, a wristwatch-Oh there it is!

_**The **__**book!**_

Hinata grabbed the watch putting it back on the night stand. Her heart pounded nervously as her hands itched with temptation. She knows that she shouldn't look, not when he could come back at any moment. She reached out her hand only to draw it back

No... she was a good person. An honest person. With integrity! _A Hyuga does not snoop! _She told herself firmly standing up

Now she gad nothing to do... Hinata stood in the middle of his room her eyes flickering back to the bed. _What should I do? Should I tell him I'm done?_ she thought sitting down on the bed her eyes glued to the floor.

_I should just leave _she thought getting up and walking towards the door. She stopped and looked back at the spot under the bed where Sasuke's book was. Hinata's curiosity was getting stronger, all of Sasuke's secrets were probably in that book. What could he have written in there? She slowly moved to the bed and kneeled down. She reached out and grabbed the book, holding it in her hands.

Hinata's heart beat loudly. She knew that invasion of privacy was wrong and that doing it behind his back would only come back to haunt her. But it looked so interesting...Hinata thought about how Sasuke would feel if he knew that she read this.

Hold it! Didn't he know she read this already? Hinata thought about the library.._thats right he mentioned it before _she thought. Then she remembered what he _did _in the library and she felt anger boil in her stomach.

_Hmp...maybe learning a few of his secrets would teach him to keep his grubby hands to himself _she concluded opening the book to a random page

_Day 87_

_I had to go to the doctor again today. Father and Mother keep asking them the same questions. What's wrong with him? Why isn't he getting better? Should I tell them it's me? That I can't be fixed? I see it in his eyes. Every time father looks at me he's looking for Itachi. He's looking for him and wondering why I'm there. He thinks I'm a disgrace and a failure. I have to show him that he has two sons and not one. _

Hinata looked at the book. Shocked. She quickly turned to the next page eager for more.

_Day 109_

_It's like they want me to kill myself. I got a stronger dose. One that could kill me if I took enough pills. It's all voluntary too. I'm in charge of when and how much I take it. If I took to many I would overdose and die, no one is ever home and I would be dead for days before they found me. No, that's not how I'm gonna go...I'm not gonna be remembered as some spoiled rich kid who killed himself on a narcotic overdose. Too cliché. I almost drove myself off the cliff today. It seemed like a better story. It's how you die that they remember you._

_Day 114_

_Sakura is getting on my nerves. Smile Sasuke, Smile. It's all I hear from her. How can I smile when my mother is sick and my father looks at me with contempt. Sometimes he doesn't look at me at all. How can I smile when I have no reason to? Ive been hallucinating recently. It's kinda nice. Entertaining._

_Day 117_

_The blob keeps coming after me. I don't look cool trying to outrun it so I have to hide in closets and hallways to avoid it. It's pathetic. I don't know how Itachi deals with it. Maybe I should make my own corrosive acid to combat it._

Hinata giggled. _Blob? What in the world is he talking about?_ _Like in the movies? _She thought turning the page and reading some more.

_Day 123_

_Turns out the camellia blossom is an artist. A good one too. Although I don't know how seeing how plain and clumsy-_

'Knock, Knock'

Hinata jumped at the sound of the door. She quickly put the book back and stood up hands behind her back, facing the door. A moment later the door opened and Itachi walked in.

_Thank goodness I changed _Hinata thought imagining him walking in and seeing her in that outfit

"Just as I thought your still here" Itachi said with a small smile. "I didn't properly introduce myself- Itachi Uchiha" he said holding out his hand. Hinata took it nervously and smiled back.

"Hinata Hyuga"

"Nice to meet you Hinata" he said

"You too...um..." Hinata wanted to ask if Sasuke was downstairs but felt too embarrassed for some reason.

"Er...I don't know how to say this nicely but I came up here because I thought you should know that Sasuke left like an hour ago" Itachi said scratching the back of his head

Hinata stared at him blankly for a minute "What!?" she said rather loudly

"...Eh, Y-Yeah sorry-I should have told you sooner but I thought he was coming back soon or that you would just leave" he said feeling guilty

"Do you know where he went?" she asked

"Um, no I don't. It all happened so fast. Sakura came and dragged him somewhere before he had time to say anything really...I honestly thought they would come back for you or something but I kept getting this feeling that you were still upstairs and I so I thought I should come check on you" he said apologetically

"Well thats nice" Hinata said harshly looking at the floor and sighing

She took a step towards the door "I guess I'll just go then"

"Oh wait, I was actually on my way to a cafe to pick up some Dango...wanna come with?" he asked

"Eh?" Hinata said

"Think of it as an apology on behalf of me and my little brother for being so rude to you" he said

Hinata didn't know what to do. She wanted to decline and get out of there but at the same time she didn't want to be rude by not accepting.

"It's okay I accept your apology, you don't have to take me anywhere" she said with a nervous laugh

"Please? I insist" he said stuffing his hands inside of his jeans

"O-Okay" she said blushing awkwardly

_I really can't say no to people_ she thought gloomily

* * *

20 minutes later Hinata found herself sitting in a small Japanese cafe waiting for Itachi to come back with their order. She felt uncomfortable there. She was also nervous, she didn't know what to expect of Itachi. He had been very polite so far but she couldn't imagine him being anything other than an older version of Sasuke..

"Here" Itachi said placing some tea in front of her with an order of dumplings

"T-Thank you" she said and bitting into the dumplings

"The dumplings here are the best, I haven't found a better shop anywhere else" he said smiling

"Mmm, their good" Hinata said, although personally she thought she could make better ones.

They ate in silence for a minute before Itahci spoke again "So...your a friend of Sasuke's?"

"Um, well...no not really" she said truthfully

"Oh? Then you must be good friends with Sakura right?"

"Well, I think Sakura is very nice but no we're not friends" she said biting into more Danko

"Huh...so if your not friends with Sasuke or with his girlfriend what are you exactly?"

"I'm...I guess I'm his..." Hinata took a sip from her cup, struggling to come up with the right words

"Mistress?" Itachi offered

Hinata choked on her tea "Wha, What!" she said loudly standing up "No, no, no, no" waving her hands in front of her "I would never do something like that! I...How can you say that?" Hinata asked not realizing she was making a scene

"Whoa, whoa calm down" Itachi said holding a hand defensively "I'm sorry I didn't mean to offend you, I just assumed that if you weren't his friend then you must be...er his _other_ girlfriend"

"Well I'm not!" she said sitting back down

Itachi looked at her surprised but then laughed lightly "Ok, I'm sorry" there was a pause while he took a bite of his dumplings "So what are you exactly to my little brother?" he asked

Hinata didn't feel like answering him. Who was he to ask something like that?

_He's Sasuke's brother..._ _He's probably looking out for him..._

_But to assume I'm a mistress is disgusting! _Hinata thought fiercely

_Neji would have done the same..._

Hinata now felt ashamed of her actions. It's only natural for older siblings to look after their younger ones. She certainly looked after Hanabi. Hinata felt her face turn bright red.

"I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to yell" she said embarrassed

Itachi laughed "It's all right, I'm sorry for assuming the worst...but why does Sasuke consider you a friend if your not?"

Hinata bit her lip, blushing furiously. "Well I-I don't know if it's my place to tell.."

Itachi smiled even more "Now you really have to tell me" he said curiously

"Um...you see...there was this I-I guess event at school and now I have to do Sasuke favors." she said hoping it made sense

"Favors?" Itachi said raising an eyebrow

"Y-Yeah like cleaning or doing homework...stuff like that" she said lamely

Itachi smiled "I see, so that's why you were in his room"

"Y-Yeah". Hinata hoped that would be the end of his questions, she didn't really want to say the word maid. "So um...Sasuke mentioned that he didn't expect you...do you live outside of Konoha?" she asked changing the subject

Itachi drank some more tea "Oh no, I live in Konoha but in my own apartment. I just got back from Europe, where I was doing some filming"

Hinata's ears perked up "Eh, you make movies?" she said leaning forward eagerly

"Not really, just some small films, right now I just finished filming a documentary about the working class in London" he said scratching his cheek

"That sound amazing! Did you choose London because of the Industrial revolution and the impact it had on the working class?"

Itachi looked at her surprised and then amused "Er, no I was just the camera man, I take jobs like that to build funds for my own projects" he said

"Oh! I'm sorry...what are some of your ideas?" she asked

Itachi chuckled before drinking some more tea "Do you really wanna hear?"

"Yes...if you don't mind" Hinata said blushing and fiddling with her fingers

_Cute _Itachi thought smiling softly "All right"

* * *

Hinata and Itachi stayed at the cafe for for over an hour talking about films and movies that they liked.

"Really? You've seen Nenette before? Wow! I thought I was the only one who ever heard of it"

"Nenette is inspirational. I must have watched it at least 6 times when it was playing at the old Leaf theater near the lakeside, have you been there?"

"Yeah, Ive been there"

And it went on like that, neither of them noticing the time until Itachi got a call. He got out his phone "Oh its Sasuke" he said "Hey Sasuke"..."Uh huh...yeah I took Hinata to get some dumplings since you so rudely left her in your room...Um yeah I'll be there after I take Hinata home" he said smiling at her, which Hinata gave him a grateful smile in return feeling relieved.

"Ok bye" he hung up the phone and looked back at Hinata "Is it all right if I take you home?"Itachi asked

"Yes, thank you" she said

They left after Itachi paid for their bill even though Hinata had insisted on paying for her share. He wouldn't let her though and dropped her off after she told him where she lived.

"We should do this again" he said as Hinata got out of his car (blue corvette)

"Mmm" she said nodding earnestly

"Do you have a phone?" he asked

"Oh well, I have this one" Hinata said pulling out the phone Sasuke gave her. Itachi reached out his hand for the phone, Hinata hesitated at first but then gave it to him. After he programmed his number into the it he gave it back to her

"See ya" he said with a wave

"Bye" she said waving, watching his car disappear at the end of the block

"I'm home" Itachi called opening the door. "Sasuke?"...he walked into the living room to find Sasuke sitting on the couch, reading. "Oh there you are" he said taking a bite out of some dango he ordered to go.

"What took you so long?" Sasuke asked

"I told you I had to drop off Hinata first" he said

"Hn...why were you with her anyway?"

"I thought I would take her out since you just left her here, and we ended up talking for a while" he said nonchalantly

Sasukes eyes narrowed slightly "What did you talk about?"

"This and that" Itachi said taking another bite. Sasuke gave him a look as he took out another stick of dumplings offering it to him

"You know I don't like sweet things" he said refusing the treat

"I wonder about that little brother" Itachi said with a laugh giving him a two finger jab on the forehead as he walked away

* * *

**.**

**.**

**AN: Hey guys, did you miss me? I forgot to mention where I was going in my last note and wanted to let you guys know that I went to Japan. It was so awesome over there and humid too. There were ramen shops everywhere and it was so goooood! I don't know if I could ever go back to instant kind. Anyway here's the next chapter, hope you guys like it. Going away really did me some good because now I have the next few chapters planned out and I'll be writing like crazy soon. **

**I thought this way a nice way to introduce Itachi into the story and I hope I matched his character to the one from the series in this Universe. Well let me know what you think! Reviews are much needed and appreciated. Ideas and suggestions will seriously be considered if you have any, so don't be shy :) Okay see you next time.**


	12. The Bonds of Sisterhood

The Bonds of Sisterhood

"Onee-chan please!" Hanabi said wrapping her arms around Hinata's waist and hanging limply

"H-Hanabi stop it! Your too old to still be doing this... please stand up your pulling on my Kimono" Hinata said trying to pull Hanabi off her

It was Sunday and Hinata had just finished making breakfast. Sundays were very lax in the Hyuga household, all of them wore traditional clothing and spent the morning together playing Go and shoga. Her father would listen to them while they each went around talking about their week although rarely praising their accomplishments and giving a lecture when needed. After that they would all have tea in the garden (when the weather permitted it) until a little late in the afternoon when her father decided to go to his study.

"Nooo, c'mon you have to take me! We haven't gone shopping in almost a month...please!" she said holding her tighter, still not straightening up.

"I...Ok fine, I'll ask father if we can go later. Now will you please let go" Hinata said giving in

Hearing her sister's words Hanabi stood upright, fixing Hinata's Kimono and then her own. Smiling she helped set the table as they heard Neji and their father coming downstairs.

It wasn't that Hinata didn't want to take Hanabi shopping. Their father only gave them money when he thought it was necessary. Not that he was cheap or anything but being a man he had no clue about the world of fashion and clothing. To a pre-teen like Hanabi it was the most important thing on earth.

Ever since Hinata started working at the Craven Haven three years ago her father had stopped giving her money, hoping that she would learn to be responsible with her income-which she was. Almost all of Hinata's paycheck went into a savings account she opened at the local bank but every two months or so Hinata would take Hanabi out to buy her some clothes.

She knew her father wouldn't mind them going but...she hadn't heard from Sasuke since yesterday. Hinata had half expected him to call and she wasn't sure if he would need her today. She didn't want him to suddenly ask for her when they were at the mall and have to bring Hanabi home. She knew she just had to call and check but... how could she face him?

* * *

"Sakura?...Sakura are you listening!?"

"Huh? Oh sorry Ino, what were you saying" Sakura said tearing her eyes away from the magazine sitting on her lap. She was at Ino's house having slept over the night before, they were eating the breakfast that Ino's mom made for them in bed still in their pj's.

"Grr I was asking whether you think I would look good with some low-lights like her" she said pointing to a model in the magazine she was looking at

Sakura looked from the model to Ino and back again. "I don't think it would look good on you Ino... besides you always have your hair in a ponytail so no one would know the difference" she said going back to an article about a new facial treatment

Ino frowned and stared at her for a moment before sighing and rolling off her stomach to sit up. She moved closer to Sakura taking the magazine out of her hands. "All right billboard brow, talk to me"

"Don't call me that Ino-pig!" she said offended

"Yeah, yeah whatever, just tell me what's wrong"

Sakura bit her lip before snatching the magazine back "Nothings wrong"

"Your lying"

"I'm fine!"

"If nothing was wrong you wouldn't be so defensive, now come on. Tell me" Ino said putting a hand on her shoulder. Sakura stared at her before looking down at her lap. "Is it Sasuke?" Ino asked

"Yes...no...I don't know" Sakura said groaning and flinging herself backwards on the bed, covering her face with a pillow

"I don't understand... I thought you were happy that you guys made up" Ino said looking down at her

"Mmmhm hmmhmm" Sakura grunted into the pillow

"What?" Ino said moving it out of her face, annoyed

"I said I was happy but that it's strange between us" Sakura said sitting back up

"What do you mean?"

Sakura fidgeted with the covers "He never tells me anything" she said sadly

"Huh?"

"He...he's always shutting me out, I know somethings bothering him but he wont tell me... every time I try and cheer him up he...he looks at me like I don't understand him at all"

Ino stayed quiet, listening

"Lately when we're together it feels like his mind is somewhere else...when he gave me the bracelet I thought he was finally showing me that he cares about our relationship but now I don't think thats why" Sakura said tearfully

"Why do you think he got it for you then?" Ino said grabbing a box of tissue in case some mega waterworks came

"Guilt..." Sakura said gripping the covers tighter

"Guilt?"

"Ino I...I think he's cheating on me" Sakura said looking up tears streaming down her face

"What! With who?" Ino exclaimed, her mind thinking of all the girls who flirt with Sasuke- _Karin? Yoshida? Kurumi? Ume?_ Argh! The list was too long and Ino didn't have time to go through it

"H-Hinata" Sakura said looking away

Ino froze. _Hinata?_... "Er I'm not sure I heard you right Sakura, did you just say-

"Look I know it sounds crazy! But theres no other explanation" she said jumping up and pacing the floor "Why else would he buy her at the maid auction?" she said stoping to look at Ino

"I...I just assumed he wanted her to do his homework" Ino said

"I thought so too but ever since then he's been acting so different" Sakura said starting to pace again

"Different how?"

"He looks at her Ino! He's always looking at her in class and...when he looks away it's like he's in deep thought... he never use to look at her" she said coming to a halt, her shoulder shaking as her tears fell on the carpet. Ino quickly got up and hugged her best friend.

Ino looked at Sakura sadly as she continued to cry. She remembered a time when she too loved and pinned for Sasuke. A part of her still loved him. She remembered how she felt when Sakura started dating him, her chest tightened a little just thinking about it. She was devastated and felt that both Sasuke and Sakura had stepped on her heart. It was kinda funny, she use to think that Sasuke was the reason she and Sakura became friends/rivals...but that wasn't it. They became friends before they met him, when she had seen Sakura being bullied and had come to her rescue.

It was her mother who reminded her. She showed her a picture of when they were little and Sakura was wearing a ribbon that she gave her. Her mom had told her to look deep inside herself and ask what hurt more; losing Sasuke or losing Sakura. In the end Ino knew it was Sakura no matter how much she didn't want it to be. So Ino decided that all she wanted was for Sakura to be happy and to always wish for her happiness... even if it was with Sasuke. Eventually she got over it and could honestly say she didn't mind them being together and could listen when Sakura needed to talk about him but this...she wouldn't stand for this.

Grabbing her shoulders Ino looked at Sakura "Listen to me Sakura snap out of it, Ive never seen you act this insecure" she said sternly "You've always been down to earth and confident thats why Sasuke picked you!

Sakuras eyes widen, shocked by her words

Ino continued "I was too flirty and did things I thought you were suppose to do to get a boy to like you" she said smiling at her memories "But you were always yourself and I guess he liked that about you"

Ino "Look I don't know first hand about relationships but I'm going to tell you what I honestly think ok?" she took a breath, exhaling "I think that if Sasuke wanted to cheat on you he wouldn't do it by paying for a girl to be around him. He knows that there are plenty of fangirls ready to jump at the opportunity. And no offense Sakura but Hinata? Come on really? Hinata is a sweet girl who's nice to everyone, she would never do that" Ino said

"Y-You don't know that!" Sakura said defensively remebering what she had walked in on... but there was no way she was going to tell Ino that Sasuke was alone with Hinata dressed like _that_

"Yeah your right I don't... look if it were any other girl I would have the blue prints of a brilliant scheme to drive her out of the country or some kind of public humiliation but it's Hinata and I just can't do anything without proof" Ino said

"Then lets go find some proof" Sakura said fiercely

"Calm down Sakura. Let's deal with Sasuke first...whats he doing today?" Ino asked

"I... when I went over yesterday I saw his brother so I think he might be with him" Sakura said

"Oh Itachi's back! Nothing I love more than two hot Uchihas under the same roof" Ino said dreamily

"Ino!"

"Ok, ok,...hmm I think the best thing to do is to give him some space today so he can spend time with his brother... that means no calling or texting"

"What? I can't even call to check on him?" Sakura said sadly

"No. If you want things to get better you need to act more independent and one day isn't gonna hurt you" Ino said getting up and opening her closet "Now get ready" she said looking back at Sakura "We're going out"

* * *

.

Hinata's heart beat nervously as she held the phone in her hands. She was on her bed trying to get the courage to call Sasuke. They had finished their tea and she already got permission from her father to go out...now she needed **his** permission...

Hugging her knees she called his number and waited...

"Hello"

**Ba-thump**

_Ow...my hearts beating so hard its painful _Hinata thought gripping her chest

"S-Sasuke?" she said weakly

"What?"

"Um...I-I was wondering i-if you n-need me for anything today" she said nervously trying to calm down

"Hn, maybe...why?"

"It's...It's just t-that I have something important to do today and I thought I should let you know" she said taking a deep breath

"Really? Like what?" he asked his tone suspicious

"I...its kind of personal" she muttered into the phone

**Silence**...

"All right. I'll let you off the hook this time. But don't expect me to be this nice again"

_This is being nice? _Hinata thought

"T-Thank you"

"Whatever...bye"

"Sasuke!"

"Geez, you don't have to yell!"

"S-Sorry"

"Well...what?"

"I...um...how are you? Are you ok?" she said nervously

"What?"

"Ah!... n-nothing, sorry! S-See you tomorrow" she said panicking and hanging up

_Stupid, stupid, stupid..._ she thought rolling over the bed

* * *

"Sasuke has an older brother! I never would have guessed" Tenten said as she looked through the clothing racks "Hmm... what's he like? Does he look like Sasuke?" she asked Hinata eagerly

Tenten, Hanabi and Hinata were at a mall on Konohas east shopping district. There were lots of little shops around but Hanabi liked the mall so they went there. Hinata invited Tenten along to hang out and to get to the bottom of all the new clothes that kept showing up in her closet. Hanabi was in the changing room trying some things on.

"His name is Itachi and he's very nice... he's an amature director and hopes to make short movies for film festivals all over the world" Hinata said

"Yeah, yeah that's great but what's he look like? Is he hot like Sasuke?" Tenten asked getting impatient

Hinata felt herself blush "He's very handsome, yes"

"More handsome than Sasuke?" Tenten asked playfully

"I...I don't... yeah, I guess" Hinata said her whole face on fire. It felt strange to compare Sasuke to Itachi. They were both so good looking it wasn't fair. If she had to describe them Sasuke would be the dark prince and Itachi... a knight in shinning armor? She blushed even more turning back to Tenten

"Aww this is cute, whaddya think Hinata?" she asked holding up a mini skirt

"It's ni-...er I don't like it" Hinata said thinking that Tenten might buy it and switch it with one of her own skirts

"Eh, oh well it's too expensive anyway" she said putting it back

Hinata looked over to the changing room on the kids section that Hanabi was in. "Maybe I should go check on her.." she said with a worried look

"She's fine, she knows how to shop... unlike you" she added snickering

"I know how to shop!" Hinata retorted

"No you don't, well you don't look bad today at least" Tenten said looking at her up and down.

Hinata blushed again, Hanabi had chosen her outfit. She argued that since she was spending the day with her big sister she got to pick her clothes. She was wearing a cropped fitted white cardigan over a light loose fitting blue dress that reached just above her knees with a pair of light pink flats. Her hair was done in a lone fishnet braid on the side, over all looking very dolled up and pretty. She was getting a lot of looks (mostly from guys) and some people even stopped to stare at her, making her uncomfortable and nervous

Smirking at a couple guys who were staring at her, Tenten grabbed Hinata and made their way over to the dressing room just as Hanabi was coming out.

"Well?" Hinata asked

"I like these jeans but I also want a new top" she said thinking

"You don't have to buy everything now we can come back next month, it'll be summer soon and there will be a lot more choices I'm sure" Hinata said kindly

"Mmm ok then I want these" Hanabi said, handing her two pairs of jeans while she went to put the tops she didn't like back

"Do you have enough?" Tenten asked as they made their way to the counter

"Yeah barely, I didn't expect to take her out so I put most of my paycheck away" Hinata said handing the clothes to the sales lady at the register

"Hey! I know a great way you can make some money Hinata" Tenten said, her eyes sparkling

"Eh, how?"

"You've been in Sasukes house... can you imagine what his fangirls would pay if you got a hold of things like his toothbrush or some old shirts" she said

"I-I could never do that! Besides once Sasuke found out he'd kill me" Hinata said

"Yeah but you have me and Neji to protect you, and if you did do it, you'd have so much money you could probably quit your job" Tenten said smiling

Hinata shook her head "I-I don't want to quit my job and you know I would never steal"

"Yeah I know, it was just an idea" Tenten said giggling. Hinata laughed too as she payed

.

.

.

.

"What do you want to do now?" Hinata asked looking at Hanabi. Tenten had gotten a call from her mother saying she was needed at home and had to leave, so now it was just the two of them

"Umm... I'm hungry can we get some crepes?" she said pointing to the stand by the food court

"Your gonna spoil your dinner" Hinata said

"I'll walk it off " Hanabi said grabbing her hand and leading her over there

"H-Hey, alright" she said

Five minutes later Hinata and Hanabi were sharing a strawberry crepe with vanilla ice cream.

"Onee-chan?" Hanabi said across the small table

"Hmm"

"Do you think mine will be that big" she said eating some ice cream

"Eh?" Hinata said biting into the crepe

Hanabi pointed the small spoon to Hinata's chest. Hinata's choked a little and had to drink some water to calm down.

"Oh, um... I, I'm not sure... I guess they might... everyone is different and theres no way to tell really... but remember t-that size isn't everything and not to think about it too much" she said turning horribly red

"Ok" Hanabi said stealing the rest of the crepe for herself

Hinata felt bad. This was the first time Hanabi had asked her something like that and she totally failed. Hinata remembered when her body began to change and how she had no one to talk to about it. It was the most awkward time in her life and she promised herself that she would be there for Hanabi... but it turns out that she wasn't much help.

"Sis look!" Hanabi said pointing

"Eh wha, what?" Hinata said looking around

"The game center! It has laser tag" she squealed "Lets go play" running to the entrance

"H-Hanabi wait!" Hinata said running after her

"Look it's only 50 ryo a game, please?" Hanabi said looking at Hinata

Hinata looked at the rules listed next to price sign "Hanabi I can't it says ages 6-12"

"I can still go in though" she said looking at her hopefully

Hinata thought about and couldn't see why not "All right fine. But just one round and then we have to go home" she said giving her the money

"Yes! Watch me beat the high score" she said running off

"Ok" Hinata said giggling. Hanabi was really good at games and stuff so Hinata hoped it wouldn't be too long. She leaned against the wall with the shopping bag looking around. She seemed to be the only teenage girl there and now that she was alone she noticed a couple boys her age looking at her, blushing Hinata turned her gaze to the floor hoping they wouldn't approach her.

10 minutes passed and Hanabi still hadn't come out yet. Hinata kept her eyes on her shoes trying to avoid the stares she kept getting. She was thinking about playing one of the games near by when–

"This is the important thing you had to do?" someone next to her said

Hinata jumped at the sound of the voice, looking up she saw Sasuke standing next to her "S-Sasuke!"

"Hyuga" he said scowling at her. Hinata held her breath as she looked at him. He was wearing a long sleeve army green t-shirt and some black pants and black converse. She had seen him dressed casual before but maybe because they were outside his house that he looked so strange to her.

"W-What are you doing here?" she asked exhaling out

"I should be asking you that" he said his eyes narrowing

"Oh w-well I-

"You know when you called me earlier I actually thought you were being sincere" he said

"I-I was! I-

"So shopping was the personal thing you needed to do today?" he asked annoyed

"Yes, I mean No! You see I-

"I don't like being lied to Hyuga" he said his eyes glaring into hers

"I didn't-

"Ha! You missed it teme! I got all the way to level 8...hm?" Naruto said suddenly appearing from behind Sasuke and realizing who he was talking to

"Hinata! What are you doing here?" he said smiling at her

"N-Naruto!... I was just waiting for someone" she said trying her best not to get too flustered

"Huh, you look really nice... are you on a date?" he asked looking around

"No! No I-

"Hey Sis look! I won a free slice of pizza" Hanabi said tackling her from behind and showing her the prize ticket "Who are they?" she asked as Sasuke's and Naruto's eyes fell on her

"J-Just some friends from school" Hinata said grabbing her arm so they could leave "I-I'll see you guys later" she said

"Is this your sister?" Naruto asked looking at Hanabi with keen interest

"Y-Yes... Hanabi, this is Naruto and Sasuke" Hinata said wearily, afraid her sister would reveal how much she liked Naruto and the things she said about Sasuke.

But much to her surprise Hanabi's face remained cool and composed like all Hyugas looked when faced in a serious situation. She bowed lightly and then turned to Hinata.

"I heard inside that there was a festival going on not too far from here, lets go" Hanabi said pulling on her hand

"It's late and we should go home already" Hinata said

"No its not and you said you would spend the whole day with me, please?... I'll even help you cook later" she whined

"I-

"If you wanna go to the festival we don't mind giving you a ride" Naruto said

"Eh?"

"Yeah theres a festival going on by the old academy remember? We were on our way over there so if you want we can go together... it's only 3:00 and we'll give you a ride home before it gets too late" Naruto said jingling his car keys

"Yes! Can we go?" Hanabi said looking hopefully at Hinata

Hinata looked at her sister and saw the longing in her eyes. She sighed, giving in... again "Ok"

"Lets Go!" she said running off

"Heh he, she's really psyched isn't she?" Naruto said laughing at Hanabi's retreating form

"Y-Yeah" Hinata said feeling embarrassed

"We should go too" he said walking to the exit

Sasuke and Hinata looked at each other straight in the eye before turning away and following Naruto.

* * *

.

.

**AN: Hi guys thank you for all your reviews, they were so helpful. You know who you are :) Anyway I hope this chapter is better and I know that I'm dragging my feet here but I thought the story sounded better this way, bringing everything in smoothly to develop the relationship between Sasuke and Hinata. As for Itachi fans (I'm a fan too) expect more of him just not in this chapter but hey quick update is still good right?. **

**It makes me laugh reading all the Sasuke comments. But it just makes me want to write more so that he can win all your hearts (maybe). Until next time please, please, please review. Thoughts and Ideas are always seriously considered. **


	13. The things she couldn't see

The Things She Couldn't See

_How did I end up here?_ Hinata thought grimly as she walked in between the Uchiha and her little sister.

_Today had been going so well... why did I have to run into him? _She thought as they walked into the Izumiaka Festival. Looking around she could tell Hanabi wasn't going to wanna leave any time soon. There were games, food stands, performers, and even some rides. It looked more like a mini amusement park than a cultural festival to her. But there were also a lot of people here and Hanabi was a little impatient and tended to wander so she would need to keep an eye on her at all times.

She mentally sighed hoping that Naruto and Sasuke wouldn't be too bothered by it. She nervously glanced at Sasuke... his face looked the same, like he was both bored and annoyed. She had this feeling that he would rather be anywhere else in the world than at this festival right now. He must have sensed her eyes on him because he turned his head and looked at her; she held his gaze for a minute before she looked away.

When he told her she didn't need to come over today Hinata was relieved. She had been dreading the moment she would see him at school and here he was right next to her. Nothing really happened she thought thinking about yesterday... she had been flustered but not really surprised at this point by his attempts to seduce her in his room. She wasn't even upset for ditching her and leaving her in his house. But she couldn't deny that things were different between them now... _he_ was different... or at least her idea of him was.

She gave him another sideways glance before she made herself look away and focus on the concession stands. If anyone would have asked whether she thought Sasuke Uchiha- one of the most popular guys in school was unhappy and possibly suicidal she would have said no without a doubt in her mind. But she had read the evidence from his own diary... a diary full of angry words and dark thoughts.

Hinata didn't understand what Sasuke had to be so depressed about. Looking at it from the outside he had it all: He was good looking, rich, smart, popular-his best friend was the nicest person you could ever hope to meet and he was going out with the most beautiful girl in school. Anything he wanted he could probably have no problem– His life seemed perfect.

_Your making assumptions again _she told herself feeling ashamed at how much she had been judging Sasuke and his life without really knowing him. Why did she read his diary? Why did she go through his things? How in the world was she suppose to act around him now? She couldn't just ignore what she read but what was she suppose to do? She had never met any one who was depressed before... was he depressed? Or was he just going through something... no she remembered the page numbers, he had been writing about it for a while. Damn it! What should she do? She never really thought about Sasuke before and it was only recently that she had started to dislike him (which was fair since he treated her so cruelly) but she didn't know him. Hinata always assumed that his cold exterior was just the way he was but now she _knows_ it's because of something much more...

"What do you guys wanna do first?" Naruto asked looking at the three of them

"I wanna eat-

"No" Hinata said cutting Hanabi off

Hanabi looked at her sister resentfully. From the look on her face she knew Hinata wouldn't waiver this time and gave up on the idea of stuffing herself with sweets and fried food. "Fine" she said "Let's try to win something" she said grabbing her hand and walking over to a game stand

"I can win you prize if you want" Naruto said boastfully, his hands interlaced on the back of his head

"Theres no need Naruto" Hinata said smiling at him "She's really good at this kind of stuff, I'm pretty sure she'll win something right now"

"Oh yeah? Well if she doesn't I'll step in and be a hero" he said with a thumbs up

"Ok" she said giggling and returning the thumbs up

Five minutes later Hanabi walked away with a stuffed white rabbit. Naruto had tried too and lost. Now it felt like a competition between them as they made their way to the next booth. Hinata was happy that Hanabi was having fun and getting along with Naruto but it also meant that she was kinda stuck hanging out with Sasuke while those two were busy playing games.

He hadn't said a word to her since the mall and Hinata still had no idea what to say to him. She didn't want him to be angry at her but she didn't know how to clear up this misunderstanding. Plus she was also scared... Hinata was not a good liar and she was scared that once she started talking he would know right away that she read his diary again. She had asked him questions when she was in his car but she had been asleep! What did she say? Even though she told him it was none of her business she wanted to know more. She might not know him very well but she still wanted to help him. They had never been friends... but she had known him almost all her life, ever since she started school at the academy. She looked around, recognizing the streets and remembered that the academy building was only a few blocks away from here. It gave her a nostalgic feeling.

"Hinata"

"Hmm?" she said coming out of her thoughts and looking at Naruto.

"There's a drum circle over there, wanna check it out?" he asked

"Oh um ok" she said smiling warmly at him. Naruto always had a way of making Hinata feel better. Just being around him made her feel that everything was gonna be all right. He uplifted her spirits with only a few words... it was one of the reasons she fell for him. Back at the academy Naruto wasn't always as popular as he was now. She remembered how the kids would always pick on him and never let him play with them. But it never got him down... and he always kept trying, always doing his best, eventually winning everyone over with his charm and kindness.

She always thought it was weird that Sasuke was his best friend. Naruto was always so positive and nice while Sasuke had been more of a loner. That didn't stop Naruto though, he simply kept talking to Sasuke and the two eventually became inseparable. Which was another thing Hinata didn't understand. Sasuke had Naruto. If there was anything bothering him she didn't see why Naruto wouldn't listen and be there for him. Did Naruto already know about Sasuke's depression? What about Sakura? Were they already helping him? Maybe she should try and talk to them about it, because if they did know then she wouldn't have to worry so much and if they didn't know they would be able to help him right?

_Wrong_ a nagging voice in the back of her mind. _What!? Why not?_Hinata thought not knowing where this voice was coming from.

_Uh, because then they'll know you went through his things _the voice said _Naruto would think your a crazy weirdo and Sakura that your trying to get closer to Sasuke by reading his most secret, intimate thoughts that even **she** might not know about_

_N-No once I explain that is was just an accident and that I'm only telling them because I'm concerned for his safety I'm sure they'll understand _Hinata thought trying to reason with herself

_Um accident? Maybe the first time but that was almost two weeks ago? If you were really concerned what took you so long? The last time you read it was on purpose. Weren't you trying to find a secret you could blackmail him with?_

_Y-Yes b-but I had a good reason! He's such a pervert when we're alone together! _Hinata argued with herself

_Yeah, like they'll believe you... Sasuke barley kisses his girlfriend remember? You saw how desperate she has to ask for a kiss. If you go to them all their gonna do is ask Sasuke and I don't think he's the type to admit when he has a problem. He'll probably just deny everything and make you look like a liar who wants attention. _The voice nagged on

_Then he'll probably be mad at you for trying to expose his secrets... and when your month of service is over he'll make sure you suffer by making your life hell with Sakura doing all the dirty work for him. And let's not forget it'll ruin any chance you had with Naruto-_

_Ok! Ok! _Hinata thought sending those thoughts out of her mind. Now that she thought about it those things were more than likely to happen. What should she do? Hinata glanced at Sasuke again who looked really annoyed by all the noise from the drum circle. Maybe she should reach out to Sasuke himself. When they were in the library he had asked her why she didn't bring it up again. Maybe he wanted her to talk to him about it... maybe it was his way of asking for help...

Hinata looked at Sasuke again, his face in a scowl. Well whatever the reason Hinata needed to talk to him about it first. She knew she was wrong for invading his privacy but it would also be wrong to ask his best friend and girlfriend about it when they might not even know. If he was trying so hard to keep it a secret, Hinata needed to respect that for the time being- until she knew the situation was out of her control. Then she'd ask for help.

She couldn't do it now. A Festival didn't seem like the appropriate place to talk about something so serious. Calling him later didn't feel right either. She needed to do it when they were alone and since tomorrow was Monday she would probably have to go over his house and she could bring it up then. Yes that seemed like a plan. So for now she just needed to act as normal as possible for the next hour or so.

The four of them walked on stopping at almost every booth so that Hanabi and Naruto could face off against each other. It wasn't even about the prizes anymore, Hanabi only kept the ones she really wanted to keep and Naruto liked the competition.

Hinata and Sasuke were watching as they both played. Sasuke looked over at Hinata scrutinizing her...

"What?" Hinata said feeling self-conscious

"Do you normally dress like that outside of school?" he asked recalling how she looked so plain last weekend

"Um no. I'm usually just in jeans and a T-shirt but my sister wanted me to dress up" she smoothing her hands over her dress "I guess it looks weird on me huh?" she said blushing

"No it doesn't" Sasuke said

Hinata was surprised. She blushed even more feeling... flattered.

"Hey, hey onee-chan look! There's a Ferris Wheel let's go" Hanabi said happily pointing it out

"O-Ok" Hinata said smiling and stroking her hair a little

"You two are really close huh?" Naruto said walking beside her as Hanabi went ahead of them

"Yeah" Hinata said as she craned her neck, making sure to keep Hanabi in her sight

"Do you guys do go out all the time?"

"N-No. Only once in a while... I'm usually pretty busy and I have to help around the house a lot" she said her eyes still on Hanabi "But I try to make time for her when ever I can"

Naruto smiled "You really are great ya know that Hinata"

She smiled back turning cherry red

They didn't have to wait in line too long. But once the ride was over they were definitely going home Hinata decided. When it was their turn she saw Naruto and Hanabi quickly get in and the assistant quickly closed the door and putting the safety lock on.

"W-Wait, isn't the limit four people" she asked as she watched as Naruto and Hanabi's car move up.

"No miss, that was a two person car, four person is coming up" he said as it came down

Hinata looked at Sasuke but his expression was unreadable. When he stepped inside she glanced behind her and was disappointed when she saw a couple on a date who were probably going to wait for the next car. Sighing she stepped inside and took the seat across from him.

Hinata felt the car move and dropped her eyes to the floor. Her heart was already beating fast just sitting with him and she could feel herself turning dark red. She looked up to see him staring at her, arms folded across his chest, his face in a neutral expression.

This was not good, she needed to say something or she would pass out from anxiety. Taking a deep breath Hinata looked up again.

"I'm sorry about this morning, I should have told you the whole truth" she said "Its just I thought-

"It's fine, I get it" he said looking out the window

"You... you do?"

Sasuke closed his eyes and sighed before he said "You thought I would ask you to come over if you told me everything right?" his face blank

"Y-Yeah" she said blushing

"I don't blame you for thinking that. But I know how it feels when your sibling promises to spend time with you and then cancels at the last minute" he said thinking of Itachi and all the times he said 'Sorry Sasuke some other time'...

"Oh" Hinata said "But it was just for today so I won't be asking you again..."

He smirked at her "I said it was fine"

Hinata smiled a little and looked out the window. She never would have thought Sasuke could be so considerate but after reading his diary she really shouldn't think that she knows him because in reality she didn't know a thing about Sasuke Uchiha

They were almost at the top now and Hinata stood up, facing the window wanting to see the view. She looked out over the entire festival and the area around.

"Sit down or you're gonna fall" Sasuke said half getting up and grabbing her arm

"No I'm not and I wanna look at everything from the highest point" she said trying to wriggle out of his grasp

"Just sit down-**BAM! **

The Ferris Wheel came to a sudden stop sending Sasuke and Hinata crashing to the ground and as their faces lightly bump each others, their lips touch...

* * *

**AN: Ahhhhhhhhhh... I'm sorry I made this so short but I really thought it should end here. I vow to make the next chapter über long and much more exciting. Please don't hate me! **

**So I wanted this chapter to be centered on Hinata's thoughts because the last two chapters didn't really give a detailed insight on Hinata's reaction and response to Sasuke and I hope I captured her emotions the best that I could. Also the argument Hinata had with herself was something I wanted to try but I might not do it again. As a character I always thought Hinata was one who knows whats right and wrong and acts on it without having to thinking twice about it. So hope you liked it and if not I'm sorry. Please review and any ideas that you guys have are 100% welcomed. **


	14. A Kiss or an Echo?

A Kiss or an Echo?

Wait...

Just now...

Did... ?

Did our lips softly touch?

Hinata quickly pushed herself off the car floor, away from Sasuke trying to stand up causing the car to rock back and forth.

"Stop moving!" Sasuke said as he tried getting up to sit down

After steadying themselves they sat down and looked outside to see that the ferris wheel had stopped moving. Normally sitting in a suspended car almost 60 feet above the ground would make Hinata uneasy and scared but she was feeling completely fazed by what just happened

Hinata was staring at the floor, her eyes unfocused as she pressed her fingers to her mouth, her mind in a world of her own

_Did that really just happen? _She thought quietly

_It was so sudden. Was that my first...?_

_No! Don't label this! That'll make it official!_

_It wasn't anything really... just a light graze..._

"**Attention Ferris Wheel Passengers: We are sorry for this inconvenience and are currently working on it. Please remain calm and we should be moving shortly"- **a speaker announced snapping Hinata out of her head and back to her situation

She looked out the window to see that they were almost at the top and tried to see the car Hanabi and Naruto were in but couldn't

"We're stuck" Sasuke said not looking to concerned

As their eyes locked Hinata's heart began to beat into her ears and she was forced to look away turning red "Ah! Im sorry about the fall. I only turned so you would let me go! I-I didn't think the ride would stop and cause us to fall!" she said her eyes closed and her hands waving defensively

"Yeah I get it. It was an accident" he said irritably turning to look out the window

Hinata opened her eyes but she kept them on the floor as she held one hand to her chest, holding her beating heart and the other fidgeting with her dress

Sasuke glanced at her keeping his head towards the window. He knew that she was thinking about the same thing he was... but he couldn't let her freak out on him and have an anxiety attack. Not when it was just the two of them trapped in the car together

"Would you relax. It was just a kis-

"NO!" Hinata yelled standing up and covering her ears

"Hey! Hey! S-Sit down! Are you trying to get us killed!?" Sasuke said angrily as the car shook violently

Hinata got a hold of herself and sat back down, nervously trying to hold on to the seat as the car swayed back and forth. She kept her eyes closed not wanting to open them until she was back safely on the ground.

Now Sasuke was angry and annoyed. What was wrong with her getting all hysterical like that? Didn't she know where they were? And what was the big deal? It was only a kiss. Did she really hate sharing one small kiss with him? For some reason the thought made Sasuke clench his fist in anger.

"Oh we're moving again" Hinata said looking out the window as the Ferris Wheel slowly started to move them up.

The rest of the ride was ridden out in silence. Neither one looking at each other. When their car finally reached the ground Hinata was the first to get off feeling a little dizzy as her feet touched the ground. They moved away from the ride but couldn't find Naruto or Hanabi.

"Where are they?" Hinata said suddenly worried again as she looked around

"They couldn't have gone far...we'll find them" Sasuke said putting his hand on her shoulder

Hinata flinched from his touch and jumped away "Y-Yeah. I'm sure they're around here somewhere. L-Lets spilt up and look for them. I-I'll go this way" she said turning around and running off before he could stop her

"H-Hey!" Sasuke called out but she was already gone, leaving him standing alone

Hinata ran and ran until she thought she was safely out of his sight, maneuvering through the crowd. She knew it was childish and stupid but she couldn't help it, she didn't want to be anywhere near Sasuke right now. She stopped, trying to catch her breath and looked around. She needed to find Hanabi and quick... she didn't care if they made it home late taking the bus, they needed to get out of there

Taking a chance Hinata pulled out the phone from her bag and dialed their house number.

_Please, please pick up_ she thought as she waited

"Hello"

"Neji" she breathed feeling relieved... "It's Hinata"

"Where are you calling from?" he asked

"Pay phone" she said quickly lying "Listen, is Father home?"

"Yes. He's watching TV, do you want to talk to him?"

"No! No I mean, do you think you can pick me and Hanabi up? We're at a Festival and if we take the bus we'll be late for dinner" she said

"Why did you go if you knew you'd be late coming home?"

"Hanabi wanted to come and I said yes. Look Neji, I really don't wanna explain myself can you pick us up or not? Hinata said desperately

Sensing the urgency in her voice Neji pushed his questions aside "All right. Where are you?"

"We're at the Izumiaka Festival by the old academy" she said quickly, happy he said yes

"I'll be there in 10 minutes. Wait outside the front gates"

"Thank you Neji" she said hanging up

Good. Now all she needed to do was find Hanabi she thought looking around, her eyes searching among the many people moving around the booths and vendors

"Hey check out this cutie over here" Hinata heard someone say. She turned to see two men a few years older than her looking at her. One of them had jet black hair and the other had brown hair with an eyebrow piercing.

They approached her before she could get away. The one with the piercing slung his arm around her shoulders "Hey sweetie, wanna come hang out with us?" he said slyly raising an eyebrow

"Um I-I don't think I should, I need to leave actually" she said blushing and trying to break herself loose

"Aww, she's shy" the black haired one said jokingly

"Come on let us buy you something to eat. I promise we wont misbehave... unless you want us to" the one holding her said heatedly

"N-No p-please..." Hinata said as they begun to drag her away "I really should get be going-

Suddenly Hinata felt herself being yanked away from them. Looking to her right she saw Sasuke next to her, grabbing her arm and wrapping himself around her with and holding her against his chest. He turned around so they were facing away from them.

"Hey" Sasuke said looking over his shoulder "Would you two stop bothering my girlfriend" giving them his death glare

_Girlfriend? _Hinata thought, her eyes wide

"Aw man, she's already has a good looking guy" she heard one of them say as they walked away

Hinata looked into his face, surprised that he came to her rescue. Sasuke looked down at her, still holding her, her eyes grow even bigger and she pushes herself away from him.

Sasuke grabs her hand not wanting her to run off "I don't need you getting lost again, this time we'll look together so just stay close" he said starting to walk

Hinata follows him until he stops causing her to collide into him from behind.

"W-What?" she said stepping out, wondering what he was looking at and stopping dead. In front of them stood none other than Sakura Haruno.

.

* * *

Sakura looked from Sasuke to Hinata to their clasped hands. Noticing this Hinata quickly let go of his, already scared of the look on Sakura's face.

"Sasuke what are you doing?" Sakura said calmly even though her eyebrow was twitching

_Damn it she's gonna make a scene_ Sasuke thought looking around

"S-Sakura it's not what you think, S-Sasuke was just-

"I wasn't talking to you!" Sakura snapped "Sasuke?"

"Calm down-

"Sasuke! Hinata! There you guys are!" Naruto said bursting through the crowd with Hanabi

"Finally" Hanabi said running and hugging her sister

"Hanabi" Hinata said feeling so happy and relieved to see her

"Eh? Sakura? When did you get here?" Naruto asked looking confused

"We just got here" Ino said appearing next to Sakura

"Ino!"

"Sakura, take it easy" Ino said having witnessed the same thing she did

"Sasuke! What's going on? What are you doing here with her!?" Sakura said pointing to Hinata

"Sakura what's wrong?" Naruto asked confused but sensing her anger

"We came as a group" Sasuke said calmly indicating the four of them

"If your in a group then why were you alone, holding her right now?" Sakura growled, clenching her fist

"Hinata, what's going on?" Hanabi asked

"N-Nothing Hanabi" Hinata said then she remembered that Neji was on his way to pick them up and she turned to Sasuke and Naruto "Sorry guys but we have to leave"

"Wait, I promised I'd give you a ride" Naruto said

"We'll be fine. Neji's on his way" she said nervously aware that all eyes were on her

"Uh alright, let me know when you get home"

"I-I will" she said blushing brightly from his concern "Bye" turning and pulling Hanabi away

"Bye" Naruto said quietly waving, Sasuke watched her go until he lost sight of her through all the people then he turned his attention back to Sakura

"Well?" she demanded getting angrier

"I wasn't holding her. I was just helping her from some guys trying to hit on her" Sasuke said still calm

"Why do you care if someone hits on her" Sakura said her voice getting loud

"I don't care but they were trying to take her away and we were looking for Naruto and her sister" he said starting to get annoyed

"Y-Yeah Sakura, we got separated after riding the Ferris Wheel" Naruto said trying to help out

"_Girlfriend?..._why are you calling her your _girlfriend _Sasuke?" Sakura shrieked ignoring Naruto

"I didn't mean anything by it, it was just the first thing that popped into my head" he said glaring at her now that people were starting to stare

"Oh yeah! Way to think on your feet!" she growled sarcastically "And since when do you become so chivalrous? Ive never known you to act like that before"

Sasuke just glared at her for a moment before he turned around "If your gonna act like this then I'm not going to try and reason with you" he said walking away

"Hey! Get back here!" she cried angrily trying to follow him but Ino grabbed her

"Let him go Sakura, you both need to cool off" she said

"Um, I'm gonna go after him" Naruto said "Are you gonna be ok Sakura" he asked carefully

Sakura didn't say anything but turned away from him gritting her teeth

"She'll be fine" Ino said

Naruto nodded and ran after Sasuke

"Sakura..."

"Don't. Not right now Ino" Sakura said as tears streamed down her face, shaking angrily

_Damn it..._

_._

* * *

Hinata sighed trying to relax. She was at home taking a bath to try and calm down from all the craziness that had happened. She took another deep breath, enjoying the warmth of the water all around her... even though she was alone her hands were on her chest trying to keep them from floating up

As much as she tried not to Hinata found herself thinking about Sasuke. She had bribed Hanabi with some small banana pies for dessert if she promised not to tell Neji who they were with at the Festival. She agreed of course but had a feeling that Neji would be in her room later to ask his own questions

She tilted her head back against the tiles taking in deep breaths. She thought about how angry Sakura looked when she saw them holding hands. Hinata had never seen her so scary before... she hoped they didn't fight in the middle of the Festival. Who knows how she would react if she found out about the kis-

_No!_ Hinata thought, snapping her eyes open and sitting upright, her breathing erratic. No. She would not allow herself to think about that. That never happened! She would never acknowledge that. Never!

Hinata got out and wrapped herself in a towel. It was useless to try and relax... she was pretty sure she wasn't going to be getting any sleep again.

She grabbed her things, put on a robe and went to her room. She closed the door, leaning against it, exhaling. Good. Neji isn't here to interrogate her she thought making her way to the bed and laying down trying again to relax.

The thing about trying not to think about something is the more you try not to think about it, the more you end of thinking about it because not thinking about it evidently means your thinking about it... if that makes any sense...

Hinata groaned rolling over, her face now in her pillow. _Okay_ _I'll only think about it once and then repress it to the back of my mind forever _she thought sitting up and hugging her pillow. She looked on the floor and saw some DVD's lying around and picked one up.

It was 'Breakfast at Tiffany's'. She flipped the cover over and her eyes flew to the picture of Holly and Paul kissing in the rain. She got up and put it in the DVD player, skipping to the last scene.

_There she goes _Hinata thought as she watched Holly get out of the car and run after Cat and Paul. In the moment when Paul and Holly cuddled together to protect Cat from the rain and kissed, Hinata felt something move in her heart

She turned it off and curled up with her pillow. Hinata felt herself blush thinking about it but she always kinda hoped that her first kiss would be like something out of a movie. And in every scenario she came up with the kiss had always been with Naruto. It was all she ever wanted... pressing her fingers to her lips she wondered

_I know it was just an accident but...was that my first kiss?_

* * *

Sasuke was playing Call of Duty trying to forget everything that had happened. He threw a grenade successfully killing a sniper that had been shooting at him. He felt his phone vibrate but didn't bother to pick it up not wanting to deal with anyone right now. After he left Sakura at the Festival Naruto took him home and was grateful that he didn't bring it up.

"Shit" Sasuke muttered as he was killed, making it to seven rounds. This was pathetic, he never lost this early in the game but his mind wasn't completely focused right now. He put the remote down and ran his hands through his hair. He could feel a headache coming on as he thought of what had started everything

He told Naruto he didn't want to go to the mall but that idiot didn't know how to take no for an answer. Plus Itachi had bailed on him saying something about being needed at the art studio where he worked.

Sasuke closed his eyes and sighed. They were playing Mario Karts when he saw her. She was standing alone looking like a lost lamb among a pack of wolves and by wolves he meant a bunch of horny teenagers who wouldn't stop drooling over her. He could tell she was nervous fidgeting with her bags and trying to avoid eye contact with everyone. At first he was surprised to see her dressed so... how should he put it... _alluring _but then he got angry when he realized that she lied to him about being busy.

Things went downhill from there- he didn't think she was with her sister or that Naruto would offer to take them to that stupid Festival.

The Festival...

The Ferris Wheel...

He grabbed the controller, playing with the buttons. It happened in less than a second but Sasuke couldn't forget how soft her lips felt. His kisses with Sakura all felt the same, like flesh on flesh and most of the time he had to endure those sticky glosses she put on. His first kiss had been with Sakura so he never had anyone to compare them with before but when he thought of Hinata... it felt nice

Gritting his teeth Sasuke threw the remote on the floor. What the hell was he thinking about that stuff for? It was stupid! He was the one who was suppose to be making her life crazy not the other way around!

_Tsk. I need to make her week as miserable as possible _he thought bitterly

He felt his phone vibrate again and saw that Hinata was calling him. _What does she want?_

"What" he answered irritably

"Eh! S-Sasuke?"

"You called me. Who else would it be? What do you want?"

"Um, I... I just wanted to see if you were ok with Sakura and everything"

Sasuke didn't really see how that was any of her business " Thats why you called"

"Y-Yes I wanted to know if there was anything I could do to help... after all it's my fault that Sakura got mad... is she still angry?"

"Yeah she's mad" he said suddenly feeling exhausted

"Maybe... maybe I should talk to her-

"NO!" Sasuke said fearfully "Don't do anything. You don't know what she's like when she's angry. Just stay away from her and let me deal with it"

"B-But you didn't do anything wrong, I don't want her to be angry at you"

"Doesn't matter. Just don't talk to her ok"

"Y-Yes"

"Good" he said sighing and leaning against the couch

"Sasuke?"

"Hmm?"

"Is there anything I could do for you?"

Sasuke smirked hearing that...hey, she offered right? Wasn't his fault she didn't choose her words carefully. Almost two weeks with him and she still acted so naïve and dense...so innocent.

.

.

.

.

"Sasuke? Are you there?"

"Bring me a bento lunch tomorrow" he finally decided

"Eh?"

"Lunch. I'm sick of cafeteria food" he said

"Oh, ok anything in particular?"

"I don't care just make sure it taste good"

"R-Right. Um, goodnight Sasuke"

**Beep. Dial tone.**

Sasuke stared at the phone before he tossed it aside. He felt strange... something about her just kept bothering him and he hated it.

"Sasuke I'm ordering food what do you want?" Itachi asked walking in

"Can't we just go out?"

"I really don't feel like it but if you really want to we could" he said sitting next to him

"Naw... I know what you mean. Just get pizza or something" Sasuke said closing his eyes, tired

"All right. Oh and Kisame and Deidara are coming over later"

"Why are you inviting those freaks over, and why are you still here Itachi?" Sasuke asked

"Our parents asked me to look after you while they're away. Don't worry little brother I'll be out of your hair by Saturday" he said ruffling his hair playfully

"Why though? I can look after myself" Sasuke said annoyed

Itachi smiled "Dad told me that since mom came back from the hospital, you've been acting out more so he didn't think it was a good idea to leave you alone for a week"

"I haven't been acting out" Sasuke said bitterly

"Then you wont mind spending time with your big brother" Itachi said poking his forehead and getting up to order the food "Oh and I changed the lock on the liquor cabinet" looking back at him

* * *

.

.

**AN: Thank you all so much for your support, it really means a lot to me. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Dont have much to say other than I hope this keeps you interested. Until next time please review and any ideas you have are always considered. See you guys soon :)**


	15. A Heart to Heart

A Heart to Heart

When Hinata woke up the next morning it took her a minute to figure out why she felt so worried and miserable. Then the events of yesterday came flooding back to her. Hinata groaned as she rolled over, hoping to disappear under the covers. It was Monday and Hinata wasn't foolish enough to believe that she could avoid Sakura once she was at school, even though Sasuke had told her to stay away she couldn't help but think that Sakura would feel differently.

She sat up and looked at the clock; It was 5:30. She needed to get up now if she was gonna make Sasuke lunch before school. Once again he wasn't specific on what he wanted so she decided to make two rice balls with salmon filling, shogayaki, asazuke and some extra steamed rice. She quickly packed it in her bag and started finishing up breakfast when her father came in the kitchen.

"Hinata"

She turned with his plate "Good morning" she said placing his food on the table as he sat down

"Neji had to pick you up yesterday. Why?" he asked as she poured him some green tea

"W-Well Hanabi and I were at a Festival and I didn't want us to be late for dinner" she said quietly

"Your tardiness is not Neji's concern. He has his college exams to prepare for and does not need any distractions"

"Yes father"

Hiashi nodded and pulled out a few pamphlets placing them on the table "I want you to look over and choose from these Cram Schools. Make a decision by the end of the week"

"Cram School?" Hinata said picking up the pamphlets

"Something wrong?" Hiashi asked

"No, nothings wrong" she said quickly putting the pamphlets aside and fixing Neji and Hanabi's plates.

_Cram School? Why does he want me to go to Cram School all of a sudden? _Hinata thought

Hinata bit her lip as she sat down trying to eat breakfast. There was no way she could juggle School, Cram School, Sasuke and Work all at the same time. Sure she only had 3 more weeks left working for Sasuke but she was already struggling to keep up with her schedule as it is. Even after her His for a Month services were over she still wouldn't be able to to work and go to Cram School. Was her father trying to get her to quit her job? Did he know about her plans after high school?

Hinata thought about the last time she checked her savings account and knew that she wasn't even close to reaching her goal yet...

* * *

.

"Eh Hinata Hyuga? She's the one he bought at the maid auction right?"

"I heard they were seen hugging and holding each other at the Izumiaka Festival"

"What? Isn't he going out with Sakura!"

"I heard she caught them together and made had a huge scene!"

"Does that mean he broke up with her for Hinata?"

"I can't believe it I always thought Hinata was so nice, who knew she would steal Sasuke away from Sakura..."

Sasuke walked down the hallway trying to ignore all the whispers and gossip. He didn't know how people found out about the Festival so quickly and didn't even want to think about the rumors that were going around. Not that he really cared. If people wanted to believe that he and Hinata were having some sort of affair he would let them, the only thing he was concerned about was finding Sakura before she did something stupid

"Yo Sasuke"

He turned around and waited for Naruto to catch up to him.

"Have you talked to Sakura?" he asked

"No, I'm looking for her now" Sasuke said

"What happened yesterday man? Everyone's talking about it" Naruto said

Naruto had heard the rumors going around but he wasn't going to believe anything until he heard the truth from Sasuke himself. He didn't say anything yesterday because he knew he didn't want to talk about it. But his patience was becoming thin and with all the rumors going on he had to know already.

"Tsk nothing happened. Sakura saw me helping Hinata out and she over reacted... as usual" he said

"Yeah but did you really call her your girlfriend?"

Sasuke sighed before he looked away "It was just so those guys would think we were together and leave her alone. I just wanted us to hurry up and find you so we could leave"

Naruto stopped and looked at him "Is that all Sasuke?"

Sasuke turned and paused not knowing how to answer that. He wasn't exactly fooling around with Hinata but he was messing with her... even if it was out of pure entertainment Naruto would never forgive him for doing it. After all he had been in love with Sakura since they were little kids and even though he supported them Sasuke could tell that it had bothered Naruto when they started going out.

"Yeah. But I need to find Sakura before she does anything to Hinata" he said "If anything were to happen to her because of me it would leave a bad taste in my mouth"

"Sakura's not like that. I know she was mad but she wouldn't do anything to Hinata... I'm sure once you guys talk she'll understand what you were trying to do"

Sasuke rolled his eyes- Naruto always put Sakura on a pedestal and refused to see her as anything other than perfect. But after being with her for almost two years Sasuke knew that she could be a malicious monster with a jealous rage.

"You don't understand girls at all do you dobe?" turning the corner and walking down the hallway alone

Hinata fidgeted with her bag nervously as she sat in class waiting for the bell to ring. All day she had been self-consciously aware with downcast eyes and burning cheeks that she was the object of almost every girls contempt, envy, resentment and suspicion. She knew the minute she walked inside from the way all the girl were glaring at her that they heard about the Festival. When she went to her locker to change her shoes she found them filled with thumbtacks and dirt! She also found some notes that read;

**Stay away from Sasuke slut!**

And another...

**Just because your his maid doesn't mean you can steal him away from Sakura **

She was shocked. Hinata had always done her best to be nice to everyone and she didn't really care that if a few people bullied her. She knew she could handle their abuse and anger and figured that if they had to pick on someone she would rather it be her then someone else. But this was a whole different level

Girls either whispered excitedly as she walked by or threw her malicious looks making Hinata positive that in those narrowed eyes was an inextinguishable fire of hatred. They hated her and probably wanted her dead. She felt it all around her from all of Sasuke's fangirls throughout the school and it was like a blinding light. She couldn't believe how everyone thought the rumors going around about her and Sasuke were true. Before the stupid His for a month service her and Sasuke had never even had a conversation before.

Hinata exchanged a glance with Kiba and Shino across from her row. They both noticed all the attention she had been receiving and she could tell they were concerned and would want answers soon... she just wished she knew what to tell them

When the bell rang for lunch Hinata quickly gathered her things and headed for the door with Kiba and Shino.

"Hinata what the hell is going on? Why are all the girls looking at you like they want to kill you? And why is everyone saying your Sasuke's girlfriend? Kiba asked glaring back at each passing girl

"It's a long story and I'll tell you guys later but please don't believe anything other people say- their just lies" Hinata said

_And some truth _said that nagging voice in her head.

"Why can't you tell us now!?" Kiba said angrily "Hey Shino say something will ya"

Shino stopped walking when they reached his locker and they waited as he put his stuff away and grabbed his lunch "Hinata have you been to the hardware store recently?"

"What does that have to do with anything?!"

Shino calmly turned around ignoring Kiba "Well?"

"Oh um, yes I have" she said a little confused as to why he was asking her this all of a sudden

"Why?"

"Er... it was for Sasuke. He wanted me to paint his room"

"I see" Shino said quietly

"Shut up Shino! Just tell us what happened" Kiba said facing Hinata

Before she could open her mouth she felt her phone vibrate and saw that she got a text

**Meet me on the roof **

"It's Sasuke. Sorry guys I have to go but I promise to tell you everything later" she said running off before they could stop her

"Grr this is pissing me off" Kiba said punching a locker "Doesn't she know the danger she's in"

"I'm sure Hinata is aware of the situation but probably doesn't want to feel like a burden to ask for help" Shino said

Kiba leaned against the lockers and crossed his arms "Well I don't care what she says I'm not gonna let Sasuke's crazy fangirls hurt her"

Shino nodded "I think we also need to have a little chat with Sasuke" heading towards homeroom so they could eat

Hinata wasn't sure how she did it but she successfully managed to reach the staircase to the schools rooftop without running into anyone. It was a nice place for students to have lunch with a wonderful view of the pool and cherry blossom trees. She saw Sasuke leaning against the railing looking out towards the school grounds. He turned when he heard Hinata make her way towards him and met her halfway.

"I didn't take too long did I?" she asked as she reached inside her bag and handed him the bento

"No" he said taking the bento and sitting on the floor in the shade "You've heard what everyone's saying" his eyes staring straight into hers

Hinata blinked at how sudden he said that. She felt no accusation in his tone and realized that a part of her had thought he would blame her.

"Y-Yes I have" she said sitting down next to him

Sasuke opened the bento and picked up his chopsticks "Have any girls given you trouble?"

"N-No not really" she said looking down at her shoes

"Did something happen?" he asked looking at her

"It was nothing... I'm fine" she said pulling out her own lunch

"Tell me"

"It's nothing"

"Just tell me"

"It's not a big deal"

"Then why can't you tell me"

"I-I don't want to get you involved"

"I am involved"

"P-Please just forget about it"

"Why can't you just tell me!?"

"Why do you care?"

"Tsk, I don't care. I just don't want anything to happen to you because of me!" Sasuke growled

Hinata's eyes widened and she felt herself blush. They both looked away and began to eat their food in silence.

"It's not your fault" she said quietly

Sasuke rolled his eyes and sighed. He took a bite of his asazuke, savoring the taste... "Hn...Yes it is... its because of me the entire female school population probably hates you"

Hinata continued to eat quietly "You didn't start those rumors...you were only trying to help me and I never said thank you"

"Don't thank me. Now we're both in this mess" he said eating some more

"It's all right" she said looking at him and noticing the irritable look on his face "Is Sakura still mad?"

"Yeah... she won't talk to me but she always does this when we fight. She'll ignore me for a day and then yell at me and then melt all over me" he said in a monotone voice

Hinata frowned "You don't sound worried that she's upset"

Sasuke swallowed a mouth full of food "It's just annoying when she acts this way"

Hinata bit her lip but found the courage to speak "Y-You shouldn't say things like that... it's probably why she's so upset"

Sasuke scowled at her, annoyed "What makes you think you know anything? She's just acting this way because she's jealous"

"I-I don't think thats why?" Hinata said turning her head away from him

Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her but didn't say anything. Hinata glanced at him and could tell he wanted her to explain... fiddling with her fingers she looked took a deep breath and continued "It's not that she's j-jealous... but I think she feels a little insecure and scared"

"Sakura's doesn't have anything to be insecure about. She's pretty enough, smart and really popular" Sasuke said countering her argument "And what is she afraid of?"

Hinata simply shook her head "Everybody has insecurities Sasuke... and anyone could tell just by looking at her that she really loves you. You have so many admirers and I'm sure it's not easy for her to see girls fawning over you all the time... she's probably scared that she'll lose you to someone else"

Sasuke just gave her a look "That's stupid. I don't care about any of that stuff"

Hinata frowned "Thats the point, you don't care! If you showed a little more interest in your relationship Sakura would feel more secure that you want to be with her! Then she wouldn't be so quick to get upset about stupid things like rumors or misunderstandings like at the Festival!" she retorted

When he didn't say anything Hinata felt herself getting angry "Why don't you care?"

Sasuke let out a long exhale and looked up at the sky, watching the clouds "I don't know..." he said more to himself then Hinata. It may not have been his intention but she somehow understood the double meaning behind his words

"Oh" she said softly looking at her shoes again. A strange but comfortable silence fell and neither said anything for a while... finishing up their lunch.

"D-Don't you love her?" she asked timidly

.

.

.

.

"Do...do you wanna break up with her?"

"It doesn't matter" he said sighing

"I-It does matter" Hinata said turning her body so that she was facing him "It... it's not my place to tell you what to do in your relationship b-but you shouldn't stay if you don't want to. You feelings matter too and if your unhappy with Sakura you shouldn't have to be with her"

Sasuke eyes widened as her words created a strange sensation inside his chest. _What is this? _He thought as he felt heat rush to his face

Feeling embarrassed Sasuke turned away "It's not that simple. If I break up with Sakura then every girl would be all over me, hunting me down like demons. It's only because I'm with her that they leave me alone" he said bitterly

Hinata bit her lip "Sasuke that's not nice... weren't you and Sakura friends before you started dating?"

"Yeah" he said

"Don't you think it's wrong to use her like that?" she asked

"It's not the reason I started dating her... she told me she could make me happy. I just saw the idea of keeping the fangirls away as an added bonus" he said defensively

"But your not happy with her"

Sasuke shrugged "It would hurt her if I said I wanted to go back to being friends..."

"I... I think it would hurt her more to know that your with her but don't feel the same way as she does than if you were to break up with her" she said slowly getting up "Whatever you decide to do just make sure its what you really want" walking to the exit door "And try to consider her feelings... she really loves you Sasuke" giving him one last glance before walking away

The bell rang but Sasuke didn't move. He just sat there his mind drifting off as he watched the clouds, thinking about what she said not paying attention to the time. When he did finally get up he had no intention of going back to class but decided to leave early and take the rest of the day off.

* * *

When the bell rang at the end of the day Hinata made her way to her locker as carefully as she could not wanting to bump into anyone-which was really difficult because most girls kept shoving her and trying to trip her

"Let's go Hinata" Kiba said appearing by her side out of thin air and wrapping his arm around her shoulder

"K-Kiba!" she shrieked turning red "W-What are you doing?" stepping away from him. It's not like she'd never been that close to him before. She'd known him since they were little kids but spending time with Sasuke has made her much more aware of her personal space with the opposite sex and Kiba was no exception...

Thankfully he didn't think anything of it "I'm walking you to work. Neji has study hall and Shino said he had to do something after school so I'm your body guard today"

"I don't need a bodyguard"

"Yes you do. Sasuke's fan club is crazy and Sakura will kill you if your not careful. And you still need to tell me what happened between you and Sasuke" Kiba said

Hinata pouted a little but didn't protest "Ok... I have an hour before work, lets find Tenten and I'll tell you everything" she said as she switched to her regular shoes and walking out the door

"Hinata"

Hinata turned at the sound of her name. It was Ino standing by the entrance "Mind if I talk to her for a minute" she said looking at Kiba

"Yes" he growled looking at her suspiciously

Hinata slapped his arm "Don't be rude" she said as he hissed "It's ok" giving him a reassuring look

"Tsk fine. But I'll be over here if you need me" pointing to the entrance gates as he glanced at Ino

"Don't worry, I'll be right there" she said giving him a little push

Hinata didn't know why she was acting so brave and confident when she secretly wanted him to stay. She was expecting a confrontation sooner or later but she thought it would be with Sakura not Ino. She followed her to the side of the building outlooking the track field

"Hinata what happened at the Festival yesterday, why was Sasuke holding you like that? Ino asked getting straight to the point

Hinata looked at Ino nervously "I-I'm sorry Ino, it was all my fault. We were looking for Naruto and my sister and I insisted we look separately when those guys tried to take me away. Sasuke was just trying to help me" she said hoping she would understand

"But why did he call you his girlfriend?" Ino asked crossing her arms and carefully observing her every movement

"I...I don't know " pulling on her skirt nervously "I'm not use to being approached by guys and I guess he thought I couldn't handle it...but its not like I asked him to say it or anything he did that on his own"

"So you guys weren't on some secret date together?"

"N-No of course not!" Hinata said sad that Ino would think her that way

_100% innocent _Ino thought feeling guilty

"I'm sorry Hinata but Sakura's my best friend and she's really upset about this, I just wanted to hear the truth from you myself" she said grabbing her hand apologetically

"I-I understand Ino" Hinata said relieved that she believed her

"But can I ask you one more thing?"

"Oh uh, yes" she said

"If Sasuke were to do anything out of line you would stop being his maid right?" Ino asked

Hinata felt her cheeks flush and throat dry up "Y-Yes of course I would" she said nervously not looking directly into her eyes

Ino frowned but then smiled again "Ok thanks Hinata that's all I wanted to know" she said sweetly

"Are you done here?" Kiba said walking into view behind them

"Y-Yes, bye Ino" Hinata said squirming a little as Kiba put his arm around her again as they left

Ino sighed leaning against the wall

"What did she say?"

Ino turned to see Sakura walking towards her anxiously

"She's not lying. But she's not completely innocent like I thought" she said tired

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked, her heart pounding

"I don't think she's messing around with Sasuke, in fact I doubt she even likes him but she's hiding something..." Ino said looking down

"How does that help me?!" Sakura said angrily

**Bzzz Bzzz **

Sakura grabbed her phone from her bag "It's Sasuke... Hello...where were you? You suddenly disappeared after lunch?...uh huh...um ok...bye"

"What happened?" Ino asked sensing her distress

"He...he said he's at the park by my house and wants me to meet with him" she said fearfully "Ino he sounded strange what should I do?"

"Go talk to him... you can't assume the worst just because you guys are in a fight... it might be unpleasant at first but eventually the dust has to settle down" Ino said grabbing her hands to give her some comfort, even though deep down she felt scared for Sakura

"Right" Sakura said eyes determined and without another word ran to the park

"Call me later" Ino yelled after her

* * *

Sasuke was standing on the pond bridge in the park leaning against the wooden frame, looking down at his reflection in the water. It was quiet in the park and normally he would have enjoyed the serene atmosphere but felt a sense of dread on what he was about to do...

He threw a stone into the pond causing a ripple pattern on the calm surface and as he watched it grow wider and wider Hinata's face appeared inside his mind

"_You feelings matter too"..._

He closed his eyes and ran a hand through his hair

"_Whatever you decide to do just make sure its what you really want"..."And try to consider her feelings... she really loves you Sasuke"_

Even now Sasuke could see her face so clearly when she said all those things. Her pale eyes that usually looked so lost and nervous were honest and straightforward...but still had a kind softness to them.

She didn't tell him to break up with Sakura or to stay with her... she didn't tell him to do anything really other than to stay true to his feelings

"_Sasuke that's not nice... weren't you and Sakura friends before you started dating?"_

And to think of how **_she_** feels in all this...

"Sasuke"

He turned and saw Sakura standing at the edge of the bridge. He could tell she was nervous but still angry as she walked up to him. It wasn't gonna be easy but he knew he had to do this right...

"What happened to you why did you leave school early?"

Stuffing his hands in his pockets he shifted his weight on one foot "I needed to clear my head" he said

Sakura pouted angrily, clenching her fist "Do you know how humiliated I felt that everyone was talking about how_ my _boyfriend was seen kissing and holding another girl in public?"

"You were there, you know that didn't happen" he said

"That's not the point! I'm the laughing stock of the whole school and you don't even care" she said tears swelling in her eyes

Sasuke looked away for a moment before forcing himself to look at her again "I'm sorry for humiliating you and for walking away from you at the Festival"

Sakura blinked in surprise as she wiped her tears away "Why did you help Hinata yesterday?" she asked grimly

"Because she needed help"

"But why?! Are you cheating on me with her?" she practically yelled

"No I'm not" he said looking straight at her

Sakura turned her head to hide her face as she wiped her tears again, relief washing over her "Ok... I believe you Sasuke"

She moved to hug him and Sasuke let her knowing she wasn't going to like what he had to say next...

"Sakura" he said stepping back "I need to talk to you about something else"

Sensing the change in his voice she looked up at him, suddenly very serious "What?"

"I'm sorry but I don't think we should be together any more... I think we should go back to being friends" he said

He felt a pang of guilt in his chest as she stared at him in disbelief, too shocked for words and unable to stop the tears flowing down her cheeks

"Wha...What? Why...why are you saying this all of a sudden?" she asked her breath caught in her throat

"Sakura, I know now that what I feel for you is friendship and that I can't return the love you feel for me" he said slowly

"This... this is all because of Hinata isn't! Ever since she became your maid you've been acting weird" she burst tearfully

"This is about you and me Sakura, theres no one else involved"

"Sasuke please...don't do this"

"I know it's selfish of me but I would only hurt you more if I stayed with you when I know I don't feel the same as you do" he said echoing Hinata's words from earlier

"The only thing that would hurt me is not being with you" she said clinging on to his arm and sobbing

Sasuke knew that if he let her cry on him she would never leave so he gently pulled himself away from her, not wanting to drag this out any longer "I know I hurt you but I still want us to be friends"

"I don't want to be your friend!" she yelled "I love you so much! I just want to be with you" she sobbed "I don't care what else happens in my life I just wanna be with you, I want you to choose me because I love you! Love you! Love you!" she said her breathing fast and hard

"I'm sorry... I can't... I can't return you feelings" he said

"What was I to you?" she demanded as she cried

"You were there for me many times... your a good friend"

SLAP

Sakura brought her her hand across his face before running away

_A Friend? That's all I was to him..._ she thought crying as she ran home _He never saw me as a lover at all, almost two years together and I was just a friend..._

Sasuke put a hand on his reddened cheek as he watched her go. He felt bad for hurting her but it was the right thing to do. She was his friend and he couldn't string her along when he didn't love her that way. He'd be lying if he said he didn't feel a little relief and that a small weight had been lifted off his chest. As he started walking home Hinata's face popped into his head again. He checked the time on his phone and realized that he didn't ask her what time she started work...

* * *

**AN: Hey guys! I'm sorry, I'm sorry, a trillion times sorry that it took me this long to update. It was a mix of writers block and limited access to my laptop. I knew what I wanted in this chapter but I didn't know how to put it into words and top my other chapters. I feel like I failed... this is probably my least favorite chapter and I apologize if it didn't meet your standards (bangs head and sobs) but tell me what you think any way and be cruel if you have to! I'm working on the next chapter already but want to shape it with some of your feed back. P.S. Garra will return I didn't write him into this story on a whim and then forgot about him but it's all about timing ya know?**

**Please review and any ideas and suggestions are always welcomed. Sorry once and again and thank you for your patience**


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